A Reason to Live
by Wishing You Knew
Summary: 6 year old Mikan Sakura was left outside to cry in the dead of winter. She was forgotten, her birthday had gone unchecked. But wait. Who’s the little boy sitting with her? Natsume? Why’s he…HOLDING HER HAND? 10 years later will it be the same?
1. Birthday Tears

**Birthday Tears and a Reason to Live**

**Summary**: 6 year old Mikan Sakura was left outside to cry in the dead of winter. She was forgotten, her birthday had gone unchecked. But wait. Who's the little boy sitting with her? Natsume? Why's he…HOLDING HER HAND? 10 years later will it be the same?

**Disclaimer**: Unfortunately, I do NOT own Gakuen Alice.

**Chapter 1: Meeting Natsume Hyuuga**

It was a boring day in the middle of winter. It also happened to be someone's birthday. Not that you could tell or anything like that. She had no party, no one to celebrate, and no one to cheer her up.

Yep. She was all alone, in the middle of the park near her house. On her birthday. Freezing her six-year-old butt off.

Her name was Mikan Sakura. She just turned six years old. But she had no friends, no dad (he left when she was 2), and Mom is hardly ever around, always working. So today, on her day, she's all alone out in the cold snowy world.

She closed her eyes, leaned further back against the cold park bench, and sighed a world-weary sigh.

Snow crunched behind her. Someone was approaching. She decided she didn't care. It didn't concern her anyway. She was too numb and tired to bother trying to figure it out.

She snuggled deeper into her fluffy coat. Warmth. Need warmth.

_Hm? That's weird…my face…it feels so warm…? I can hear something. What is that?_ She thought. She slowly creaked open her frozen eyelids and saw a pair of tantalizing crimson eyes staring straight back.

Mikan jumped. "Are you ok?" The raven-haired boy asked. "You look kind of red-faced."

"Um... I'm fine! Perfect! A-ok! See?" She stood up, trying to prove her point. It might have worked if she wasn't so dizzy.

"See?" She repeated, swaying slightly, and then she fell over. The boy sighed and helped her over to the bench.

"Are you sick or something?" The boy was getting kind of nervous, not that it was possible to tell. His face was clear of all emotion. "Should I get a doctor?"

"No, I'm fine. Seriously, I'm just a little cold, that's all. I'm Mikan. Mikan Sakura! Nice to meet you! What's your name?" she grinned.

The boy shrugged off his sweater and placed it on Mikan. "I'm Natsume Hyuuga, same to you." He said, with a cold and emotionless stare on his face.

"Um…" Mikan started, causing Natsume to turn and look at her. "Oh! …Never mind!"

"Airhead," he mumbled, thinking she couldn't hear him. Unfortunately for him, she did. Mikan started bopping him on the head with her little fists, pounding furiously.

"Take that back you-you-you-you-" Her rant was punctured by the small smacks of her hands.

"GET ON WITH IT!"

"IDIOTIC BOY!" she shouted. If there had been anyone on the street at this time (which there wasn't), they probably would have bled to death through the ears. She was just that loud.

The boy just rubbed his sore head and asked, "Why are you even out here? Shouldn't you be inside celebrating the New Year? It's too cold to be outside, too."

"I could say the same to you, Hyuuga!" Mikan retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"I'm serious. Why would a baby like you be out here? Why aren't you at home?"

"Today's my birthday." She stated simply.

"That's not a rea-"she cut him off, placing her hand lightly over his mouth.

"My dad's…gone. My mom is always off at work. And it's not like I have any friends to hang out with…" She pulled back her hand and looked down and her winding fingers.

Natsume stood up, and turned away. Thinking that the only person she could talk to now was going to leave her, Mikan crossed her arms and looked up at him slowly.

All of a sudden, there were warm arms enveloping her in their tight embrace. A quiet voice whispered in her ear, "I'm your friend."

With those three soft-spoken words, Mikan broke down. She cried into his shoulder, thinking, '_I'm not alone anymore!"_

After a few seconds, she whispered, "Thank you…Natsume", softly into his ear. He merely hugged her tighter and ordered, "Cry."

Mikan obeyed, and over her shoulder, Natsume watched the snow fall. He smiled slowly and ducked his head.

**REVISIONS! Wow. I sure was cheesy when I first wrote this. Its June 24, 2011 as I do this review and I'm shocked with how awful I was! How did you stand me? Anyway, I've made a few minor changes. I was going to completely revamp it, but I don't have the time or energy. So I'll make due with little things that bugged me! Stay tuned for the rest of my revisions!**


	2. The Terrible TeaTime Tragedy

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**Disclaimer-** **Yeah, I DEFINITELY own Gakuen Alice, you can't tell anybody, ok? Ok, ok, I lied… GA is mine only in my sweetest dreams!**

**The Terrible Teatime Tragedy**

**4 Years Later**

**Natsume's POV**

I don't know if I did something to the little girl that gave her the idea that this is ok…Ugh. This is humiliating. I'm dress as a **bear**, no, not _just_ a bear. A **teddy bear**, with overalls and a painted on smile.

For the past four years, she's begged me for a present. 4 years ago, I gave her a cupcake with a candle on it. 3 years ago was a stuffed bunny. 2 years back, I had to give her a puppy. And 1 year previously, I planted her favorite tree (a sakura tree) in the park. It's still tiny, so I doubt she'll ever get to sit up in the branches like she wants to.

All I did was ask her what she wanted as a gift. And, boy oh boy, did she have ideas! She eventually settled on a tea party. And (of course) it _had _to star the Baby's best friend! So, here I am, as a bear…rawr…

**End of POV**

**Mikan's POV**

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, Natsume! It's perfect!" I said, as I straightened his cute little collar.

"Yeah, whatever," said Natsume, the Party-Pooper. "Can I go now?"

"Course not, silly! We haven't even begun!" For some reason, he groaned really really loudly after that. I wonder why…ah well!

"Sit down please, sir." He sat.

"Tea, sir?" He held out his cup.

"Careful now, it's really hot!" He sipped dutifully.

"How's business?" He shrugged.

"Do you have anything to say, sir?" He shook his head.

I'm so sick of this. I stood up, curtsied, and said, "Thank you for my gift, Natsume. Goodbye." He stared at me, making me _very_ uncomfortable. I turned and walked away.

**End of POV**

**Normal POV**

_I thought he said he wanted me to have a good birthday!_ Mikan fumed as she stomped away. _He could have a least TRIED!_ She turned around, looking for him.

"He didn't even follow me!" she said to herself. "Grr! He's gonna get it now!" She abruptly changed her direction, running back to where the party had been held.

Gulping back the pants that wracked her small frame, she looked around for Natsume. He was packing all the cakes and other treats into a box. The tea was poured into the snow. He did all this, completely silent.

There were times, when Mikan Sakura could take complete silence… This was not one of those days.

She stomped over to him and screamed right in his ear, "NATSUME HYUUGA!"

He straightened and asked, "What do you want, you old hag?"

Mikan bristled and yelled, "I WANT TO KNOW WHY DIDN'T FOLLOW ME! Couldn't you see that I was upset?"

"Why should I leave out all this food? I'm putting it away so it doesn't spoil. Besides, I knew you'd come back." He looked up at her, "There's something I should tell you…"

"Tell me! Please Natsume!" She got down on her knees in front of Natsume. She clasped her hands together, ducked her head behind them, and begged.

"Please, Natsume! If something's wrong, you know you can tell me, right?"

"Not this, you'll cry."

"Ah ha! So," she smiled triumphantly, "you ADMIT it! There IS something wrong!"

"…" Natsume didn't respond. What could he say? He _couldn't_ tell her. He didn't know what she would do. _Okay,_ he thought, _I have to change the subject! But, how…?_ He smirked slightly as he hit upon an idea.

He stood up, and pulled her up too. She gave him a weird look. And, blushing, she noticed that he was still holding her hand. His smirk grew bigger as he leaned over to her. Closer and closer, her blush deepened with his every movement. When he finally stopped, they were face to face, noses almost touching. It was then, that he made his move. He reached out with his free hand. Mikan closed her eyes, as Natsume…

Flipped her skirt, thus revealing her underpants. He poked her forehead, bringing her back, "You still in there, Polka-dots?"

She blinked. She thought. She realized. She fumed. She (tried to) punched Natsume in his stomach. He dodged it, and started laughing. He doubled over and laughed til he couldn't breathe. Seeing this, she blushed, and gave a little giggle of her own. Soon, she and Natsume were rolling around in the snow, laughing while their sides ached, as they tried to force a breath through.

Natsume's teddy-bear smile rubbed off on the snow and had been replaced with a bigger, cuter one of his own design. Natsume wasn't used to this. And he didn't really know what to do. Well, he knew one thing he could do…

He stretched out, dug his hand in a box, and pulled out two delicious cakes. One, he hid behind his back. The other, he held out. It was chocolate, with chocolate frosting. Whipped cream stood up in the moonlight, dotted with chocolate chips, drizzled with chocolate syrup.

"Oh, Polka-dots!" He taunted. She broke her laughter and looked over. He held out the yummy treat, her eyes widened and glazed over. She began to drool. "What? You like this cake, huh?" He waved it around as she nodded. Her eyes trailed it's every move.

"H-hey Natsume? C-can I have that?"

"What's that hideous word?"

"Please!" She got down on her knees and pled. He liked that, it made him feel powerful.

"Come and get it," he invited. She froze, and then glared at him.

"What's the catch?" She didn't trust him, and that thought panged in her mind.

"Okay, you caught me… Give me $20 for it." He had to get her. But he also needs the money. Good! He had to pay for the cakes and other treats. He can't ask his mom! She'll think he got a girlfriend and bug him about Polka.

"Fine." She gave him the money. "Terribly overpriced, but I want it! Hand it over."

"Gladly. Come and get it."

"Kya!" She squealed in anticipation. She reached out to take it. Quick as a whip, Natsume pulled back the chocolate cake, and pushed the 2nd cake in her face. She was very surprised, and he was delighted. He laughed again.

"Thank you, Natsume, Goodbye." Stiffly, she turned away and headed home. Again. But this time, he followed her. He peeked at her face. It was completely covered in cake. Seeing her, he knew he had to tell her.

He put his hand on her shoulder. She stopped, but didn't turn around. He sighed and asked, "Do you want to know?"

She didn't respond. He figured that she just didn't know what he meant. Just as he was about to explain, Mikan replied, almost silently, "Yeah." He took a deep breath.

"I'm moving. To America. My dad wants me to learn more about our businesses there. Plus, he says it's just not working here in Kyoto. He already knows that I have no friends."

"You have me." Mikan declared, turning to Natsume. "Natsume, you told me that you're my friend. We'll show your dad! He won't take you! We'll fight so you can stay!"

He smirked, and said, "You really think we can do anything?" He sounded skeptical.

"I _know_ we can!" She grinned and took his hand. As he hid his blush, they walked back to the table. They sat down, drank some tea, ate the treats, and planned diabolical plans!


	3. Yum Yum! Pizza Time!

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**Disclaimer- Do you people ENJOY watching me cry? Because, every time I am writing this, I lament (nice word, huh?) the fact that Gakuen Alice is not mine! I shall now sob enough tears to fill a waterfall's basin!**

**Yum, Yum! Pizza Time!**

"Psst! Natsume!" Mikan whisper/shouted to Natsume.

"Shut up, Polka!" This has been going on for a while.

"P-pervert!"

Natsume sighed. They were sitting on the floor of Mikan's room, munching on snacks, debating ideas. "You know, you don't have to whisper. It's not like anyone can hear us."

"Oh." Mikan whispered.

"Idiot."

"NATSUME! WHY ARE YOU SO CRUEL?" She sobbed, while maintaining her angry expression.

"Polka, do you even know what the word "cruel" means?" Natsume asked in a tired voice.

"Um…I mean…it…" she trailed off looking confused.

Mikan's mom then walked into the room. "Ok! It's lunch time! What does everyone want to eat?" Yuka Sakura was a single, hyper mom who worked all the time to support her daughter. She was also a larger version of Mikan.

"Nat!" Natsume winced. "You're the guest! So go ahead and choose first!"

"Hn."

"Hyuuga! My mother asked you a question!" Mikan hissed. "Be polite and answer her!"

"Whatever. Pizza, then."

"Yummy!" Turning back to her cheerful mom, she grinned and said cutely, "Make that two please, Mommy-kins!"

Hearts appeared in place of Yuka's eyes. She squealed and jumped on her daughter. They both giggled and clung to each other in a never-ending hug.

Natsume rolled his eyes, he'd been coming here long enough to be used to this. He picked up their Planning Notebook and doodled as he thought.

_Yuka may be gone a lot from Polka's life, but you wouldn't be able to tell. It's obvious that she still loves her a lot. She's got to support her family. Especially since that drunken loser left, not that, as far as I know, he was any help_. Natsume sighed as he set down his pencil. He glanced up and saw the mother/daughter duo jumping on a trampoline that definitely wasn't there before. He sighed and looked down at the notebook.

This was a big mistake, because he had unknowingly been drawing a picture of Mikan. He had captured her as she bounced in the air. Her beautiful shoulder-length caramel brown hair was flying up around her, freed from its usual tight pigtail bonds. Mikan's eyes were closed and her cheeks were flushed a lovely rose color. She was smiling blissfully, and looked every bit an angel.

As Natsume gaped at his master piece, Yuka went off to order the pizza, and Mikan walked over, wondering if he was sick. His face was flushed with embarrassment, but she didn't know that.

"Hey, Natsume?" she asked tentatively. "Are you feeling okay? Do you have a fever? Are you gonna die? Are you thirsty? Wanna play a video game? Ooh! Are you constipated? What's 4 times 3? What's a string got to do with the earth being born? I want cake! Natsume! Let's go get some ca-"

"Stars, shut up already." Natsume smirked as he waited for her to figure it out. That smirk got bigger and bigger as he watched her go red and explode.

"N-n-n-n…" He was beginning to think maybe this wasn't such a good idea…His smirk turned into a look of horror. "NATSUME YOU PERVERT!" She raised her fists menacingly.

Mikan was just about to bash his head in when Yuka entered with plates of cheese pizza and some drinks.

Yuka set everything down, dusted her hands, and smiled at the two. Natsume smirked again, Mikan gave a little giggle.

Mikan got herself a mango juice and was about to take a sip when it was quickly taken and downed in one gulp. The empty glass was then replaced in her hand. Mikan looked at it sadly. Yuka braced for impact. She waited, but couldn't take it any longer. She had to go before Mikan exploded.

Yuka swallowed hard, and then muttered something about her having her own pizza and that there's an extra in the kitchen. Then she scurried out as fast as she could.

They both stared after her, feeling very confused. At the same time, they each swung their head to look at each other. Once they had, they couldn't help but crack up laughing. They fell over, fighting for a breath.

Suddenly, Mikan straightened up. "Natsume! I've got an idea!" she whispered loudly.

"Mr. Hyuuga." A tall and lanky young man stood before the trillionaire's desk. "There is a delivery for you. They say they have orders for it to be delivered straight to you. You have to sign for it. Here's the form."

Natsume's father was a handsome middle-aged man with his son's breathtakingly beautiful red eyes. He had an athletic build and he loved to eat! His name was Hiroki.

Hiroki signed and impatiently waved in the delivery guy in. The man brought in a large silver case. Hiroki's eyes widened. He dragged the case over and sent Mr. T.L. Dude (Tall Lanky Dude) out and stared at the case. He wondered, _What could it possibly be? Should I open it? _And he did.

Inside was a cardboard box. His brow furrowed, and he could smell something. And this time, he knew it wasn't just one of Mr. Dude's usual farts, because this smell actually smelled _good_! Pizza? Excitedly, Hiroki threw open the box.

It was a beautiful pizza. It had sausage, but that wasn't it. There was extra EXTRA cheese. Long, hot, good, cheesy extra cheese! Mr. Hyuuga was so hungry and excited now, that he didn't notice the little note taped to the inside cover. It read:

_To Hiroki Hyuuga-_

_So, you're moving to America, I hear. Afraid that your rival will beat you? Such a chicken... You always were, you always are, and you always will be. Smarten up and listen to my advice: Keep Natsume with Mikan Sakura._

_If you separate them, I will take that poor miserable life of yours and…well…let's just say, you should really stay on my good side._

_A Friend_

Mikan went to visit Natsume the very next day. "So, did it work?" she asked nervously.

"You picked the wrong place to stick the note. He threw it out with the box when the pizza was gone. Next time, I'm picking the plan."

"The note…didn't work…?" She started to cry. "I –I thought it would be perfect!"

Natsume was kind of uncomfortable now, "Its ok…just be more careful where you put important stuff, alright?"

"…'Kay…Thanks, Natsume." She smiled up at him. Then, he gently smiled back and ruffled her hair. They returned to thinking. What could they do?

**Ah. Revisions. I really don't like this story… I wrote this when I was like 12. I was such a weird little kid… Oh well! Hope you enjoy my miniscule changes!**


	4. Threats and Dudes

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**Disclaimer: I can only dream that one day, Gakuen Alice will be mine! Mwahahahahahaha!**

**Chapter 4**

**Threats and Dudes**

"Ah! Natsume!" A cheerful shout cleared many ears of their blood. One such victim, Natsume Hyuuga, was **not **going to take it.

"Oi, Polka! Keep it down! I'm trying to think!"

He was very gentle about it, of course.

The two best friends were once again pondering their next approach. But since it was Natsume's turn to come up with the plan, Mikan was just goofing off.

They were in their favorite little hideaway: a small meadow surrounded by trees, in the middle of their town's park. Mikan was off chasing butterflies, while Natsume was getting steamed. "Hey, are you gonna help me plan, or what?"

"But Nat! You said that it's **your** turn to plan! I am merely respecting your wishes!" Mikan's logic was completely and utterly without fault.

He winced. He had said that. He had no right to tell her to help. Natsume sighed, and replied, "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just…I don't want to go, but I can't think under this stress. It's really frustrating!" He bowed his head, cleverly hiding his eyes behind his bangs.

They didn't move for a minute. The air was taunt with their silence. But suddenly, Natsume felt a pair of warm, small arms wrap themselves around him. A head dropped to his shoulder. _'Mikan,' _he thought.

She shook, and, in response, he wound his arms around her. "Natsume, are you really gonna leave me?" Mikan spoke softly, and her words were muffled, but he heard her.

He turned his head, and placed his lips near her ear. He whispered, "Of course not, you idiot."

She smiled, blushed, and turned away to hide her burning face. "Thanks…Do you want some help with your plan?"

"No… Who wants help from a little girl wearing peaches underwear?" ...

"NATSUME! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She glared at him and put a hand behind her back. Natsume's eyes widened.

A few minutes later...

Natsume fell to the grass, battered, bruised, and bloody. Mikan smiled triumphantly. "That'll teach you not to peek at a girl's underwear!"

"D-didn't peek. You—showed—me." He barely managed to crank out those few words.

"Shut up already! What's your stinking plan, Hyuuga?"

"I had one thought up…"

"Yay! Let's do i-"Mikan started to cheer, but was stopped in the middle by Natsume, who held up his hand and began speaking again.

"BUT, it was knocked clean out of my head. And you can thank the ugly little girl who did this to me by glancing in the mirror." Mikan's head began steaming. She had to say something or risk exploding.

"Then...why…don't…you…COME UP WITH SOMETHING ELSE?"

"Well, "Natsume started, with an off-hand tone, "that might take some time, little girl."

"Don't take **too** long! Or else you'll be shipped out of here! Hurry!"

"Aw, you do care. Moron, I'm touched, truly, truly touched. Now, go away," he paused, and she huffed, "so I can think of what to do."

"Really? You don't just want me gone? You're really gonna be thinking of a plan?"

"Well, I won't be if you're not gone."

"'Kay!" She walked off, humming happily. She had skipped not 2 feet away before she was stopped. Natsume got up and announced, "Got it." She was so excited! Well, until she found out her part!

The next day, Mikan's thoughts were wrapped around Natsume.

_Ugh. The nerve of that Natsume! I'm going to kill him! This plan is so stupid! It's NEVER gonna work! I can't believe he'd think up something this stupid! I mean, it's not like I had thought he was some mega-genius, but really! He's such a jerk sometimes! Now is DEFINITELY one of those times! Oh you can bet on it, I'll make him pay!_

"Oh, just shut up already!" snapped Natsume; he was getting kind of annoyed. "I told you, I WAS KIDDING! I'll pay for it! So, be QUIET!"

Mikan hadn't been **thinking** all that stuff. Natsume finally got so sick of it, but his way of handling it didn't make her feel all that better. So she was still pretty upset! Quite understandably, in a girl's point of view. "What? Is it your time of month already?" He scoffed.

Her face turned an adorable hue, most accurately described as that of a tomato. "PERVERT! NATSUME HYUUGA! I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

But before she could, he called something to her attention. "Look, little girl, relax." Natsume cajoled. "Let's just do the plan, okay?"

She sniffed and looked up. Her eyes were large, beautiful, and tear-filled. "'Kay." She hooked her arm through his and smiled at him. His face was tinted pink, as he shook his head clear and off they were.

The next day at the Hyuuga Corps main building, a plan was unfolding. A phone rang in a private office on the 7th floor. A man, chewing on a sprinkled donut, picked up and said, "Hyuuga Corporations, how may I help you?"

A voice (male, crackly with static) immediately began. "_I'll do whatever I need to to you to get what I want. Don't you DARE dial 9-1-1, or I'll kill you right off. _

"_If you value your life, family, friends, home, or anything, you will tell NO ONE about this call. You will stay in Japan, and not force anyone out. I know where you are at all times. Look outside your window."_

The man, frightened as to nearly wet his pants, looked down to the parking lot. A man stood there, he grinned and chuckled into his cell phone.

"_So you see me. Listen carefully. _

_I hear you're moving to America. Well, you __were__. You're afraid your rival will beat you? You're such a chicken. Leave, and I'll kill you. You got that?"_

"Y-yes."

"_Yes, who?"_

"Y-yes, s-sir!"

The line went dead. Mr. Dude gulped and bawled. He felt wetness trickle down his leg. "AW MAN!" He had wet himself. Mr. Dude raced up to Hiroki Hyuuga's office. "SIR!"

"Oh, hello there, young man." Hiroki smiled. "What can I do for you, son?"

"I QUIT!"With that, Mr. D pelted outside. He didn't even notice the two 12-year-olds waiting nearby at the park. They were handing a large man a bundle of money. He muttered, "He'll kill me. I gotta leave town. I'll move to Tokyo! Change my name! Start a new SAFE life!"

The 12-year-old guy groaned as Mr. Dude ran past. Natsume turned to see Mikan, smirking at him. The big guy was gone. "What?" he asked irritably.

"YOUR PLAN DIDN'T WORK EITHER! HA HA! IN YOUR FACE! YOU GOT THE WRONG GUY! HA HA HA!

"That's not a good thing, idiot. It means that now I have to leave for the U.S." That shut her up.

"Oh…right…" When she realized what was happening, she cried a waterfall of tears. After the initial shock wore off, she and Natsume simply watched each other in silence. But after a few minutes, Mikan couldn't take it. She ran home, gulping back sobs.

Natsume sat down hard on the park bench and buried his face in his hands. _Okay. I admit it. It was a dumb idea… Now what? Mikan…_

**Lalalalalalalalalaaaaa! Chapter 4? DONE. Review?**


	5. Saying Goodbye

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**Chapter 5**

**Saying Goodbye**

The day was dark and raining. The weather completely mirrored what our best friends were feeling. They had failed. Neither of them had had a successful plan, and now they had given up. Later, on this day, Natsume and his family would be leaving for the US.

It was the day they had interest in helping along. Natsume sat upon his empty floor, staring at his hands. On the other side of the room sat Mikan, head in hands. He stared at her, watched her cry, and tried to memorize everything about her.

Natsume soaked in her features. What he couldn't see, he recalled. He didn't want to go. She didn't want him to go. But what they wanted meant nothing to Mr. Hyuuga. He stood up, turned around, and punched the wall with all his strength.

The wall caved into the fist-sized hole. The skin on Natsume's hand bled, the drops dripping slowly, horribly, to the hardwood floor.

Mikan's head shot up and she raced over to help her best friend. She still swallowed back wrenching sobs as she bandaged his hand. "Why did you do something so stupid?" she asked quietly. She surveyed her work while waiting for his reply. This shocked her.

"Because it doesn't matter anymore. NOTHING matters anymore!" Natsume truly, truly meant it. How could he live, how could life have color, when he was being wrenched away from his best, and only, friend? How would he survive? He didn't think he could. 'What am I going to do?' He thought. 'What can I say?'

Natsume's mind was wiped blank as he felt two warm, determined, and small arms shakily wind around him. "No, Natsume. Everything in the whole wide world matters even more now! You can't think like that! You can't feel like that!"

He blinked, He sighed while laying a supporting arm across her back. He still felt betrayed by his blood. He pulled away saying, "I can't help how I feel towards that man! Just because he's my father doesn't mean he can-"

"It's okay." He turned and saw Mikan, she smiled weakly, and unshed tears glistened behind her closed eyes. "Besides, it's not like we'll never see each other again! We will! I promise! Do you?" Mikan asked, shyly sticking out her pinkie.

Natsume smiled a true, warm, beautiful smile. He wrapped his finger around hers and murmured, "Of course…Mikan." Then, expertly using his pinkie, he pulled her so that she was once again in his arms. He rested his head on her shoulder and pushed hers onto his. Soon, his shirt was drenched and Mikan was pushing away to clean herself up.

After she had thrown away all her used tissues, Natsume thrust a box into her hands and turned around. With a look of surprise, she opened it, revealing a beautiful sakura petal necklace. It looked like an ordinary trinket, but was really a disguised locket. She opened it, showing a rare picture. It was of her and Natsume, but they were **both** smiling widely.

Mikan closed the locket. She felt a pang in her heart and the tears started flowing again. Natsume looked up in alarm, but before he could jump into action, she shoved a box at him.

He looked at it in confusion and lifted the cover. A slow, sweet smile spread silently across his face. He lifted out a plain old locket. But he knew she must have had a hard time getting it. It was solid gold, and Mikan and her mother, no matter how long her hours, don't have much money to spend on frivolous stuff like this. He opened it slowly, and saw another of the rare photos inside,

Natsume smiled wider as he saw the matching pictures. He took her sakura locket, turned her around, and fastened it. And she did the same for him. They hugged again and he whispered, "You should go now."

She nodded and tried to smile, but faltered. She broke away and ran for the door. Slamming it behind her, she ran down the hallways. She couldn't stay, it would hurt too much. She was out of breath when she stopped, panting in front of Mr. Hyuuga's office door.

Mikan straightened as an idea hit her in the head. She smiled slightly as she slipped inside after knocking.

**Mikan's POV**

My heart was racing. I could barely breathe, but I knew I had to do this. I knocked and slid inside before I could be sent away.

"Hyuuga-sama." I said politely, bowing for affect. He seemed to like that.

"Ah, you are my son's friend, are you not? Yes, Mikan Sakura, is it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, how may I help you, young lady?"

I got down on my knees and pled, "Let Natsume stay, sir. Please! I know you think he has no friends. But that's not true! Not just me! But at school too, sir! Whether or not Natsume is there for this hiccup in business doesn't matter! I would do anything, ANYTHING, if you'd please let him stay! He's my best friend! And if he wasn't here, I'd- I'd- I-!"

I lifted my head and stared at his face with the biggest, brownest, most tear-filled eyes that I could. I tried to let my emotions speak for themselves, through my eyes. I didn't know why I did this. At the time, the only think I could do was to show how I felt. I had no expectations, I just wanted closure, I guess.

Hyuuga-san looked at me uncertainly. He seemed to truly be at a loss. I thought I could really see things from his point of view: There was this big crisis. He had to go. But he didn't want to tear apart his family. (I liked him a lot better after I thought of this.)But now, an adorable (I love this man.) little girl needed his son. Should he do what's best for his son, or the whole family?

Before Hyuuga-san could do or say anything though, Natsume burst in. He was out of breath and frantic. Gasping for breath, he demanded of me, "What are you doing here? Dad, leave her alone! She's hurt enough as it is."

I winced at his harsh tone. "Natsume!" He only glared at me. That shut me up pretty quick. His eyes softened, and in them, I read, 'Don't worry. This is something** I** have to do. Leave it to me.' So I sat back on my heels and watched.

**End of POV**

**Normal POV**

"She's done nothing wrong, so keep away from her!" Natsume spat.

"Son," Mr. Hyuuga started in a calming voice, it kinda changed, "I haven't done anything! Stop overeact-"

"'Haven't done anything'? What do you call ripping me, her only friend, away from her, and sending me to the other side of the world?"

"It's for your own good! You need discipline!"

"Hey Dad, I wondering something. Is breaking someone's- a little girl's- heart a right of passage in this family?"

"Shut up! You know nothing! I'm just trying to keep this family together!"

"Yeah, but you know what Dad?" He curled an arm around Mikan and continued. "You're tearing apart a family that's already been broken. One that they've mended. Hers."

"…" Mr. Hyuuga stayed silent, soundlessly waiting for his son to continue.

"Before this girl was even _born_, her father left. Her mother was never home, always working, working her pain away. Their family was in shreds. But then I became a part of it. Look how strong they are now. Now, she's not alone. She's got me and her mom is home more. And yet you want to rip them apart again. Break her heart again. You're a sick, sick man if you'll let this happen. If you'll _make_ this happen."

Mikan started crying again, so Natsume hugged her tight. His dad looked at them and smiled. He wouldn't tell them, but as they stood there, they reminded him so much of him and his wife at their age. He stood and placed a hand on each of their backs. They turned to him in surprise.

"Fine, I agree with you. But I myself must go. And you mother insists on tagging along. So, where will you go?"

Natsume turned back to Mikan and said, "To my family of course." Mr. Hyuuga grinned and beamed and laughed and clapped!

That night, Mikan and Natsume had seen Mr. and Mrs. Hyuuga off to their plane. Next, they got all of Natsume's stuff into the Sakura house. They, having finished all of their duties, had sauntered off to the park. They sat in their secluded space and thought.

"Hey, Natsume?"

"What is it Polka-dots?"

"What do you think we'll be like in 6 years?" They had done this a few days after they'd first met too.

"Well, you'll still be an annoying, loudmouth who sleeps in all the time, wearing childishly printed underwear."

"And **you'll **still be an idiotic peeping pervert!"

They bickered for a few more minutes, until Mikan murmured, "Seriously, what will have changed?"

"Maybe nothing, maybe everything."

**6 Years Later**

"Wake up already! Its 7:20, clowns! You've slept in again." A shriek passed through the small town.

An old man tended his garden near the school. He laughed and said, "It's been 6 years and nothing's changed." And then he thought, _Until now..._

**This chapter pretty much stayed the same! I hope the rest of these chapters will be spiffied up as easily! : ) Review for old times' sake?**


	6. I'm Alice In Wonderland!

**Sniff, Sniff Well, I hope you're all happy! The following reviewers made me cry with their kindness! Silent readers, don't you want to make me this happy? Thanks guys:**

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**You people… man! Now I'm gonna start crying again! Darn it! Well, let's just start the story, ok? WAH!**

**Disclaimer- Why do you keep putting me through this pain? Leave me alone!**

**Chapter 6**

**I'm Alice in Wonderland!**

Mikan pounded on the door, demanding, "Natsume! Hurry up! I NEED to get in there!"

"You should've woken up earlier, idiot!" Natsume shouted from the bathroom.

Yes, the bathroom. The root of all Mikan's early morning pain. He always did this. He turns off her alarm, wakes her up late, then take FOREVER getting ready. _Demon!_

She sighed and slid down the door, collapsing at the threshold. Looking at her watch, she groaned audibly. "Natsume," she muttered, "why do you do this to me?"

The door opened, and she fell back. "'Cause it's fun." She stared up into gorgeous red eyes. Any **normal** girl would have fainted at such close proximities. But Mikan wasn't affected. He's her best friend, she knows all his tricks.

"I'm going to kill you." She growled.

He scoffed, "As if you have the time." He was right, of course. And she realized this from taking another glance at her watch. "I'd hurry if I were you."

He watched with amusement, drying his messy raven hair, as she dashed around. She was tugging on a knee sock, with a toothbrush hanging out her mouth before he finally decided to help.

"Oi, Polka. Need some help getting dressed?" As any reasonable girl would, Mikan reeled back her arm and popped him one right on the kisser. He glowered at her and held his face tightly.

"YOU PERVERT!"

"WHAT? I WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP!"

"You idiot! You wanna help?" He nodded. "I'm already dressed. Here" She handed him her hairbrush. Natsume took it and looked at it in confusion. "You can brush my hair."

So, while Mikan pulled on her socks and shoes, Natsume was slowly running her brush through her –now long- beautiful hair. It reached the middle of her back and was a rich caramel-like brown. It was so smooth, and shone in the light.

Over and over. He continued even after she was ready. It went on through breakfast which included a freaked-out Mikan, an amused Yuka, a mesmerized Natsume, and some chocolate-chip pancakes. As they walked to school, she was way too weirded out.

She snatched the brush out of his hands and bonked him on the head. His eyes refocused and narrowed into a pointed glare. "What was that for?" he snapped.

"Sorry dude. But you went psycho on my hair!"

"What? Did I cut it, or something?" He seemed to have forgotten what happened earlier. Well, he did seem a little out of it.

"No, but you wouldn't leave it alone." Mikan shuddered. "It was pretty creepy! But you're okay now, so it's fine!" She beamed and took his hand. "C'mon, slowpoke! We're gonna be late!"

He hid his blush and they ran. She was really slow, and almost as soon as they began, Natsume was dragging her along. She was heaving, he didn't even pant once. He sighed and picked her up.

"Eep!" She squeaked. He was carrying her bridal style and had her head tucked under his chin. She could feel the warmth passing into her from his chest and arms. He chuckled at her reaction and started sprinting towards the school.

"You're too slow, little girl. This is the way for you to travel!"

His heart was beating normally. (He was trying to keep it in check) But Mikan's was going crazy. Natsume noticed this and smirked. "N-Natsume put me down! This is scary! You're too tall!"

This was understandable. They were 16 now. Things other than Mikan's hair had changed. She was now 5'4'', but Natsume was 6'2''. With such a big height difference, her fright made sense.

His hair was still in that messy style and he still had those striking eyes. But now his chest was big, he had muscles. He was lean and fit. A total heartthrob.

Mikan's hair was longer, fuller, and thicker. Her lashes grew volume and length. She was healthy and curvy, but thin. Her eyes were still big and innocent. And her smile still brightened up everyone's spirits.

"You really want to get down?" she nodded, eyes shut tightly. "Fine." Natsume dropped his arms to his sides and smirked while Mikan clung to his neck, screaming.

"**WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?"**

"Not really."

"Not really?"

"Look down, baka."

She did, and saw that she was right above her seat. Natsume was just going to plop her down. "Oh." That was all she could say.

He sighed and pried her arms off his throat. He then placed her gently on her seat and sat next to her. That wasn't originally his seat. But he had a 'talk' with the teachers, who then decided that Mikan needed all the help she could get. She wasn't stupid, she just had trouble concentrating.

Boys crowded around Mikan's desk the moment she sat, As usual, they were begging for dates. Strangely, the room began heating up. They only figured it was the heat coming on. But then one of the boys caught on fire...

A teacher ran in and tried to put out the fire. Then he did the only thing he could, sent the kid to the nurse. Everyone forgot soon after and the day continued as normal. Class started and the day began.

Three hours later, in the middle of Math class, a note was delivered from the principal's office. It requested Mikan and Natsume's presence. The school was too poor to afford a PA system.

All the way there, the two guessed what they were needed for.

"You did something, Natsume!"

"You're getting expelled for being stupid."

"You're getting expelled for being a meanie!"

"You're getting suspended for wearing such childish underwear, Moons."

"You're getting suspended for being a pervert!"

"You are so stu-"

There they stopped. They were right in front of the office.

Both took a deep breath before slowly opening the big oak door. "Mr. Principal?" Mikan called.

"Ah, Miss Sakura, Mr. Hyuuga. It's nice to see you." The principal was a middle-aged man named Shiro Katsunuma. He had graying brown hair, and a well-groomed moustache. Mr. K. was a jolly, round, good-natured man.

"Why did you need to see us, sir?" Mikan asked politely. She couldn't trust Natsume to be respectful, so she did the talking.

"Oi, who's the old geezer by the window?" Natsume was blunt, and Mikan flushed. An elderly man stepped out from the shadows. However, he wasn't offended, he just chuckled.

"You're very perceptive, lad. Yes, you are the ones!" He laughed, slapping his knee.

"Um, are you alright?" Mikan was getting kind of freaked out. And Natsume was right with her on that.

"Senor Principal!" The old man switched to a Spanish accent. "Have you not told mis amigos?" Natsume yanked Mikan behind him protectively. He didn't think they could trust this old dude. He seemed kinda loopy.

"Well…no. We've just been observing them. As per _your_ orders."

"Oui, Oui!" He turned French. "Merci beaucoup!" He reached for Mikan and managed to grab one of her hands. Before Natsume could slap him away, he'd kissed her hand and said greeted, "Bonjour, mon amour. "

She looked confused. Natsume was seething. Shiro was watering plants, and the old guy was oblivious.

"We're out of here." Natsume growled.

"Wait! Wait a second!" Mr. Shiro shouted. They dutifully returned, but Natsume sure wasn't happy about it.

"What?" he hissed. Shiro gulped, and took a step back.

"Um…Mr. Narumi! Help….me…please!"

The old man giggled and said, "Sure thing!" He whirled around in a circle and struck a pose. He had magically transformed into a handsome, blonde, 20-something man.

Mikan and Natsume stared. How could they not? An old man had just used magic right there in front of them.

He stuck out his arm and pointed to his expensive-looking watch. "Alice-made!" he chirped proudly. But upon seeing their shared looks of confusion, he froze. "Oh, that's right. You don't know yet, do you?" he asked gently.

Mikan shook her head, while Natsume burst out, "Know what, pervert? What an Alice is? If so, shouldn't you be explaining? Besides, what do we have to do with any of this crap?"

"Natsume!" Mikan scolded. She then turned to Narumi and apologized, "I'm so sorry, teacher! Natsume was so rude to you!" Ignoring Natsume's glare, she continued, stepping out from behind him. "But, could you explain, please?"

"Of course, Mikan-chan!" He beamed. "An Alice is an extraordinary gift, granted to few people. The people with Alices are also called Alices. Do you understand?"

Mikan tapped her finger on her chin and tilted her head cutely. "No. What do you mean 'gift'?"

"Easy, Miki! Gift as in ability. You know, something special, magical that is only capable by that Alice! Guess what mine is!"

"Um…talking fast?" Mikan guessed.

"Being a gay freak." This was Natsume.

"No, Natsu-kins! I'm not gay! I'm just beautiful!" They all stared in amazement.

"Then what is it, teacher?" Mikan asked excitedly.

"Human pheromone. I charm people- male and female- then I can control them!"

"Perfect for a gay freak." Natsume was blunt as usual. "And you're telling us this stuff, why?"

"Because…you're going to Alice Academy!"

"Wait teacher! Does that mean me and Natsume have Alices too?"

"Yes, Mikan."

"Oooh! What's mine? No, what's his?"

"Moron, shut up and let him answer."

"Thank you, Natsu-kins! Well, we've been watching you for a while. So, we're pretty sure of ourselves. According to our research, you, Natsu-kins, have the Fire Alice. Snap your fingers!"

Natsume obeyed and a flame appeared. His eyes widened. But the flame soon went out. He tried again, but it wouldn't work. "Why won't it work?" he asked Narumi.

"It's because of Mikan." Natsume glared at her, so she hid behind Narumi. "Mikan, your Alice is Nullification. You can cancel any Alice attack. Of course, it won't always work just yet. You both need training. That's why you need to go to the academy."

"Is it far? Or can we still live at home?"

"It's a boarding school. K-through-college. For your own protection. So you won't be able to go home for a while."

Natsume was ok with it. His family was gone, after all. And his fan-girls would be far, far, FAR away! He had no objections. But Mikan did. Her eyes were hidden behind her bangs. She thought only of her mother.

"Mr. Narumi…NO!" She screamed and ran out the door. She flew home and dashed around looking for her mother. When she found her, she collapsed into a hug. Yuka was confused, but she returned the embrace.

"Mikan, what's wrong? What happened? Come on, tell Mommy!"

In a halting voice, controlled and shaken by sobs, Mikan explained everything to Yuka. Yuka's face hardened and she said, "I'm so sorry, baby. It's all true. I'm an Alice too. You'll have to go. I'm so sorry, honey. I never wanted this to happen. I hoped you'd be spared. But I guess it was in vain."

"M-mom! I don't want to go! I can't leave you! Not all alone!"

"Ssh, baby. It's gonna be okay. We'll work something out! Even if we can't, you won't be alone! You'll have Natsume! He can protect you!"

"I can't! I won't! I don't want to go! I love you mom! I'd die!"

"No! Don't talk like that! You'll touch many lives, even if I'm gone! It's like I said, we'll work something out! Come one! Let's go down to your school, sweetie!"

So, hand in hand, they walked back to the high school.

"Miss Yuka, will you consent to being a school nurse? I believe you copied an Alice of Healing back when we were at school?"

"Yeah, Naru. As long as my daughter's happy, I'll do anything." Yuka smiled at Mikan's hopeful gaze.

"Well then, looks like you're all going to Alice Academy! We'll send for you in a week. Toodles!" Narumi skipped out, while everyone sighed yet again.

"Well," Yuka began, "LET'S GO PACK!"

One week later, Yuka, Natsume, and Mikan all stood aside each other outside the gate. They took a deep breath each to gather courage. Yuka grabbed Mikan's hand, who in turn grabbed Natsume's as they walked in.

Their luggage had already arrived and been sent to their rooms. So now they went their separate ways, Yuka to the Hospital, Natsume and Mikan to their class.

They stood outside the classroom and knocked. It was Mr. Narumi who answered. He winked and turned to the class. He announced, "Class! We have two new students today! Come in and introduce yourselves!"

Mikan stepped forward with a sweet, innocent smile. The boys all fainted. "I'm Mikan Sakura! I have the Alice of Nullification. It's really nice to meet you all! I hope we can be great friends!"

Natsume came up and all the girls swooned. "Hn. You do it."

Mikan sighed and introduced him. "This is Natsume Hyuuga. He has the Fire Alice and isn't very good at socializing. It may not look like it, but he's really happy to be here!"

Narumi called out, "Any questions?"

A boy raised his hand, "Yeah, what are you to each other?"

She giggled and exclaimed, "We've been best friends since we were six!"

Another boy raised his hand, "So, are you single, Mikan?"

She was about to answer, but Natsume beat her to it. He lit the boy's hair on fire and said, "No."

The boys all gulped and the girls glared at Mikan. She was oblivious to her protector and was just chatting with Naru.

"Alright everyone! Natsu-kins, you'll be partnered with Ruka. Mikan with Hotaru! You two can sit back there, last seats."

"Thanks sir!"

"Hn."

A girl with short black hair and amethyst eyes turned around and stared at Mikan.

"Um, hi?"

"I'm Hotaru Imai. We're friends now."

"Really?" She turned to Natsume and tugged on his arm, making him look at her. "Natsume! Guess what! I've already made a new friend! Yay!"

He gave a little smile and patted the top of her head. "Good job, little girl. Run off and make some more."

"Okay! But you'll still be my BEST, BEST, best friend, right?"

"Of course, moron."

She smiled and began talking with Hotaru, and pink-haired girl named Anna, a blue-haired girl named Nonoko, a bespectacled boy named Yuu. And a permifried girl named Sumire, but called Permy.

Natsume may not have shown it, but he was proud of his best friend. But he wasn't too happy with the boy named Yuu. But he knew he was harmless, so he let it go.

**.Okay, so while there are Alices here, there is no star-ranking, Persona, DA class, or missions! Just saying! There are still ability type classes, though.**

**Wow. I love how I had no lead ups to them becoming Alices… Rather convenient, huh? But it works! Review?**


	7. The Perilous JourneyOr Not

**Hi there! Sorry that I'm so late! I just started school, and it's kept me pretty busy! Sorry! A big hearty thanks to my faithful reviewers! You guys rock!**

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**T-thanks, you guys! -Sniff- oh man, I promised I wasn't –sniff- gonna c-cry! Ok, ok, just read the story! I need a tissue! SOMEONE GET ME A STINKING TISSUE! Oh, thank you…**

**Disclaimer: Leave me alone! If I owned it, I'd be the happiest person on Earth!**

**Chapter 7:**

**The Perilous Journey… Or Not…**

"Hey! Hey, Natsume!"

"What is it, little girl?" Natsume asked tightly. She'd been bugging him all afternoon. Who could blame him for being a little testy? Mikan could.

"You don't have to be so mean!" She pouted cutely.

"Fine. What do you want?" This he said with absolutely no emotion. Natsume knew this would bug her; she hates when he's cold and unfeeling.

They were in his room, talking about their day (well, Mikan was. Natsume was reading a manga.). The room perfectly shadowed Natsume. It was black and blank. The walls, furniture, and bed were solidly black, and there was no decoration.

"Whatever! How many friends did YOU make today?"

He held up a sign, which Mikan, stupidly, read aloud:

"' None. Now leave me alone and go play, Bears.' Bears? What do you mean?" He pointed. She followed his finger, which was pointed at her exposed underpants.

"AAAHHHH! PERVERT!"

Natsume rolled his eyes and turned back to his manga. "Idiot." He murmured.

Mikan pulled out a little Natsume doll, then a series of weapons, all miniature. She began her voodoo. She stabbed, poked, cut, throttled, punched, pinched, kicked, stomped, tortured, screamed, shouted, spat on, bit, and threw it. Fortunately for Natsume, the doll didn't work. All he felt was amusement as he watched her attack.

"Oi, are you done yet?"

"No!" And she kept on going. It seemed as if nothing could stop her! And Natsume knew, once the doll was destroyed, she'd attack him. He had to act fast! But what?

'Wait!' He thought, 'what did that gay freak tell us?'

**-A few hours earlier-**

**Natsume's POV**

"Ok, everyone! We've got our new friends, their partners, and some free time! Let's talk about our feelings!"

We all groaned. Well, all except for the little girl, but she's too stupid to count. I guess he really **is **gay… Oh, the freaks talking again.

"OH, you **want** me to teach?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Fine! Aw, I love you guys! You're all so cute!" I covered Mikan's ears. She shouldn't hear this kind of thing. Who knows what she'd make of it?

She struggled. So much that she almost fell. I uncovered one of her ears and whispered into it, "Moron, he's talking about big, scary monsters that eat girls who wear childish underwear."

She shrieked and slammed my hands hard on her head, keeping them in place with her own. But they're so tiny in comparison, there was no point.

"Oh, Natsu-kins? What are you doing?" Naru's disgusting face loomed in front of us. But, lucky her, Mikan had her eyes shut tight in fear.

She must've felt my hands shift, because she opened her eyes and jumped. "Mr. Narumi! Please tell me the monster isn't real!"

Naru looked at me in confusion. I just shrugged. "Um, what monster, Mikan?"

Of course, she couldn't hear him. I was still covering her ears. And I knew from experience that she couldn't read lips. Oh, that was a very… interesting field trip. Never mind about that!

But I knew that he should move on to another topic. So I muttered, "Hey, Naru! Anything else? Or should I just burn you?" He gulped when I said that. Ha, so he should.

"Ah, um, righty-oh, Natsu-kins!" I glared. "Please uncover Mikan's ears now, very important announcement!"

The whole class shut up and Naru yelled, "In celebration of the arrival of our new students, there will be a special Central Town trip, this afternoon, after class! Be at the bus stop and 4:30 PM, or you'll miss it! Here, take a flyer!" He stood at the front of the class, clutching a stack of papers. For easy transportation, the idiot pulled a HUGE fan of his pocket, and blew a paper- flyer- to each of us.

"See ya then, loves!" Then he blasted out of the room. We were all silent for about a second, then he popped back in. "And by the way! A student with the Sneezing Alice caught a bad cold and blew an EXTREME BOOGER SNEEZE at Jinno! He'll be out for 3 days to disinfect. Toodles!" He dashed out.

All the kids shouted and cheered. 'I guess this Jinno-dude is harsh. Oh god, I hope **she** doesn't get on his bad side…' I thought, turning to look at Mikan.

I saw her smiling brightly, reading the flyer, and I knew I'd be dragged along…

**End of Natsume's POV**

**End of Flashback**

'Oh well, at least I have my answer…' Natsume thought. He sighed and called out, "Oi, little girl!" Mikan looked up warily. "Let's go."

She cocked her head in confusion. "Go where?"

_God, she's dense!_ He stuck his hands into his pockets.

"Ok, I guess you don't want to go to Central Town." Her ears perked up like a dogs. "Where there's candy, toys, food, and tons of stuff you can buy." She drooled. Seeing this, he grimaced, but continued, "Because, you know, we have to be there in 10 minutes, and you're still in your uniform."

She gaped at him. He smirked back. "OH NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?"

"Relax, idiot. Your room is right over there. Climb out my window and into yours."

She hugged his arm and shouted, "Thank you! Thank you! You're so smart! Genius Natsume!"

He peeled her off and placed her outside his window. "Go change." He watched as she sprinted in and out in 2 seconds flat. Mikan wore a pair of white jean shorts paired with a light blue sweatshirt. Her beautiful hair flowed down her back; her bangs were pulled to the side with a small white clip.

Natsume had changed right after class, so he was ready and waiting! He was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a red shirt. The first three buttons, as customary for him, were undone. His hair was as messy as usual, and he made no move to tame it.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! We gotta GO!" Mikan ran up ahead, stopping to beckon occasionally to Natsume, who was strolling leisurely. Finally, she got so sick of it; she ran back and grabbed his hand.

Now she ran backwards, tugging him along. This was a really bad idea for such a clumsy girl.

"Um, little girl? You might want to watch where you're going…!" But Natsume's words went unheeded, and Mikan ran into someone and fell. Unfortunately, she also pulled the person down with her. They tumbled to the cold stone pathway. Seeing as who our little brunette crashed into, this was _really_ bad.

Mikan stood up and, with an arm behind her head, began apologizing. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking! I'm so so sorry! Are you alright? Are you ok? …HOTARU?" Her eyes widened in fright.

The inventor stared at the scared girl, and her beautiful eyes glinted. "Ah, it's the idiot and the loner. Well, idiot, I'm not sure if you know the tax."

"Tax? What do you mean, Hotaru-chan?" Mikan asked, completely and utterly perplexed.

"Pay me $30 for attacking me, and $15 for calling me 'Hotaru-chan'. Ick." Hotaru ordered stoically.

"What?"

"Pay me, or suffer the consequences."

"Um, hold on a sec." Mikan beckoned to Natsume. He came over and she whispered to him, "Can I borrow $45? PLEASE? I haven't had my money changed yet!"

He looked at her hopeful expression and sighed wearily. "Will you pay me back?" He hissed.

"Yup!" Mikan chirped.

"Whatever." He pulled out his wallet and passed her the money reluctantly.

"Smart girl. Let's go to Central Town." Hotaru sped to the bus on her Swan-Mobile (patent pending), while Natsume ended up carrying Mikan again. He didn't seem to mind, he just kept sniffing her strawberry-scented hair.

They made it to the bus with seconds to spare.

In the seating, they were separated. Mikan got yanked down and ended up sitting next to Hotaru. So Natsume decided to sit across the aisle. It had an open seat, he noticed, so he sat. A hand tapped his should, and he turned to find himself staring into the deep blue eyes of his partner.

Yes, it was Ruka Nogi! He smiled cheerfully and stuck out his hand. Natsume gripped it uncertainly, and said, "Hey." All cool-like! Kya!

Ruka replied, "Hi. I'm Ruka Nogi. You're Natsume Hyuuga, right?" Natsume nodded. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Natsume grunted.

"Ah, you're just as unsociable as she said."

His head shot up at the mere mention, not even by name, of Mikan. "What do you mean?"

"That girl, Sakura, was it? She told the class."

"Yeah, she's too talkative for her own good."

"And you're too overprotective for **your **own good." Ruka countered.

"Whaa? What do you mean?"

"You're very protective of Sakura, aren't you? As soon as I mentioned her, you seemed ready to bite my head off."

"She's too dense to take care of herself! Besides, she's helped me so much, I can't let **anyone** make her cry."

"Well, you don't need to worry about me. I'm not interested in girls right now."

"You're GAY?" Natsume asked incredulously.

"NO! NO no no no no! I just got out of a bad relationship, so I'm taking a break from dating!"

"Good. I don't think I could've handled TWO blonde gays!"

"Naw, Mr. Narumi really isn't gay. He's just weird… but, now that you mention it, there **have** been a lot of rumors about him and Mr. Jinno…"

Luckily, before Ruka could explain any further, the adorable bus arrived at Central Town and everyone disembarked. As they left, Mikan pulled Natsume to the side and accused, "I thought you said you didn't make any new friends!

He shrugged and said, "I didn't."

"Well, you looked pretty darn chummy with Ruka-pyon!"

'Pyon?' He thought. "So what?"

"YAY! NATSUME'S GOT A NEW FRIEND! …Wait, does that mean I'm not your best friend anymore?"

"Yes." She deflated. He smiled and ruffled her hair. "You idiot. You said yourself; you're my BEST BEST best friend. Not just my best friend."

She grinned and kissed his cheek. Or, she tried to. Like I said, he's a GIANT! He chuckled and bent down. Flushed, she pecked it. He straightened and took her hand. "Come on. You've got a lot of fun to have."

Mikan beamed and off they went. Off to Central Town. Off to buy stuff, eat stuff, and play with stuff.

**TADA! Halfway done revisions! Then NEW CHAPTER! Yay! Its almost over, guys. Stay with me and review!**


	8. Fresh Feelings

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**Disclaimer: Why do you hate me? Stinking lawyers and meanies! Only the great and wonderful Tachibana-sensei could EVER come up with such genius! Not me! I'm a horrible writer!**

**Chapter 8:**

**Fresh Feelings**

"Central Town! Central Town! C'mon let's go!" Mikan tugged Natsume towards the awaiting inventor and animal-lover. Hotaru looked like she was getting a bit testy, and she's no fun when she's angry! Ruka was on the ground, watching a caterpillar inch away before him. He was completely oblivious.

"Tch. Little girl, let me go. I can walk by myself."

"If you can, then walk faster, Loner." Hotaru was starting to let her temper get the best of her.

Natsume grunted, but hurried his pace a little. When our little couple reached Hotaru and Ruka, Ruka was off in his own little world. Bird watching does stuff to his brain.

"Hotaru-chan! Where to first?"

"$25," Hotaru stated stoically.

"Huh? What for?" Mikan asked, utterly lost.

"Tax for calling me the ridiculous name. If you must talk to me, call me Hotaru-sama."

"B-but-"

"No buts. Now come on, Nogi. I need pictures of you eating howalon." Ruka tailed after, petting a chipmunk on his arm.

"Wait!" They halted and whipped around. "What are we-"Mikan gestured between Natsume and herself "-supposed to do? We don't know where anything is!"

"Idiot, just wander and browse. And when it's time to go, ask for directions." Mikan still looked pathetic, so Hotaru ordered Ruka,"Moneymaker, give her the 3D map."

He snapped out of his trance and walked back to them. He reached into his pocket and pulled out… **lint**. Wow, Ruka. Yeah, that'll definitely help them find their way.

He flushed and fished through his other pocket. He brought forth a tiny metal square. Barely protruding through was a button. Ruka handed that device to Mikan, who eagerly pounded on the button.

It flipped open with a small beep, revealing a magnificent sight. A burst of light shot out and formed an exact image of the town, all miniature. Mikan oohed and aahed, Natsume just grunted. That was quickly accepted by Hotaru as gracious thanks. So she thrust a scrap of paper at him; a bill.

Mikan noticed and got a mischievous glint in her eye. She inched between them and grinned. "What's this?" She plucked the paper and waved it teasingly. "Oh my, my dear Hotaru! You gave sweet **Nat** your **PHONE NUMBER?"**

Ruka froze, they all did. There was dead silence. That is, until Mikan started cracking up. "Oh hoo hoo hoo! That was PRICELESS!You should've seen your faces! It was AWE- Unfortunately, she was flung into the air before she could finish.

Mikan trudged back to the group, groaning.

"Man, that hurt! Hotaru, why'd ya have hit me so darn hard?"

"Just be happy you were only sent a mile away, moron." Mikan pouted, and Hotaru sighed. She placed a sisterly hand on Mikan's shoulder and said soothingly, "Come on, relax. It's your first trip to Central Town. Be happy. Go explore with the Loner and meet me and Bunny-Boy for dinner at 6:30. You've got about an hour and a half, ok? Use the map and meet me here. If you're late and I have to look for you, I won't be happy." Mikan gulped. "Just have fun, you idiot." She nodded and skipped over to Ruka to gush about how sweet Hotaru was.

Hotaru gestured to Natsume and he walked over. "What do you want, brain girl?"

"You to watch out for her."

"Are you kidding me? I've been doing that since we met! You don't need to remind me."

"Then don't get lost."

"I never do."

"Don't get separated."

"My problem will be getting away,"

"Don't let any perverts near her. She's cute, they'll come running."

"Just let them try."

"Don't get mad, jealous, or overprotective. That'll be the real problem."

"It will not!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Then you're not **at all** upset over how Mikan's gripping Nogi's arm?" He twitched. Ah, she found his weakness. "Relax. He's not interested, neither is she."

'Hm.' "Hey, who's the ex-girlfriend who scared him off dating?"

"A Class A monster. Luna Koizuma. She broke his heart."

"What happened?" Natsume was genuinely curious. Not a lot of things caught his attention. So it was strange to see that he wanted to know more.

"They went out for a year and a half. Then, on their anniversary, he found out she'd been dating another guy for 5 months. She said horrible things. Then she eloped to Paris with the guy."

"Um, we're 16. How'd she…?"

Hotaru gave a hint of a smile. "She's older. And legally allowed to get married, After all, she's 20."

Natsume's eyes bugged out. Ruka Nogi seemed like such a wuss; shy and alone. And yet, he went out with a woman 4 years older! Who knew he had it in him?

"Wow." She nodded. "I don't believe it."

"You should, "Hotaru said bitterly, "because it's true." He turned to her with a look of confusion. He was about to say something when Mikan bounced atop him.

"Hi, Natsume!" Mikan waved down.

"Um, hi?"

"Let's go! Let's go! I wanna explore!" She looked so excited. And he felt bad because now they only had about an hour before dinner.

"Yes. Where do you want to go, little girl?"

"Um… I don't know! Let's just walk around and browse, ok?"

"Sure, fine by me." They said goodbye to Hotaru and Ruka and set off.

Ruka and Hotaru smiled as they watched the two best friends leave. Mikan still sat on Natsume's shoulders, but he didn't seem to mind. 'Time to get down to business,' Hotaru thought. "Oi, Nogi, let's go."

He turned to look at her, and her breath caught in her throat. He looked beautiful. The sun lit up his golden hair and his blue eyes sparkled. His cheeks were shone upon as if by the gods. Ruka's body looked muscular and lean. He stared at her.

He saw something in her no one else seemed to be able to see. He saw the intelligence in her eyes that made them light up when she got an idea or smiled. He saw how delicate her mouth was, but always spouted out ideas. He saw how pale her skin was, how dark her black hair was and how it glistened.

Hotaru was the first to regain her senses. She blinked and shook her head clear of those thoughts she thought of as useless and stupid. She said woodenly, "Let's go Blondie. I need money."

Ruka snapped out of his trance. As he said, "Imai, do I have to?" he was thinking, _Oh my god. What was I thinking? I haven't thought or felt anything like this for someone since Luna left! What's wrong with me?_

"Yes you do. C'mon we only have an hour!"

Picture, picture, picture. Hotaru took TONS of pictures of Ruka. Ruka eating howalon, drinking from a water fountain, from a bottle, standing, sitting, talking, laughing, smiling, and so many more. As time wore on, she realized that she was no longer paying attention to the shots. She had just been concentrating on taking as many as she possibly could.

Even though they were rushed, every single one looked perfect._ But,_ Hotaru thought, _that's only because Nogi is such a handsome model!_ Once she thought this, she slammed her hands against her mouth and blushed slightly. She couldn't believe it!

What the heck was going on? Picture, picture, picture. She couldn't stop. He didn't pay attention to that though. He was too busy trying to keep his eyes and thoughts away from her.

Later, they strolled down the busy streets aimlessly. Ruka had asked her if she had enough shots, so she had to stop. Now they walked without saying anything. He didn't know what to say. And besides, he couldn't trust himself to talk. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts. She turned every move, every touch, and every word into a sign that he was completely, over-the-top, loopily in love with her.

But what neither could figure out was why did they all of a sudden start thinking that? Never before had they even thought of themselves as friends! So what was happening? Both just blamed it on Natsume and Mikan. They figured their friends' obliviousness was starting to make them go crazy! Or worse, maybe it was rubbing off. They shuddered and gazed at each other.

"Um, let's go get tea or something. You look kinda cold." Ruka invited sweetly.

She just brushed by him. "Whatever." Her heart twanged. And his cried out at this shunning. They stepped inside cozy little café. It was called, "Lovers' Corner". Hotaru gulped, and Ruka feared for his life.

They sat down in a booth and a waiter approached. "Hello, you two lovebirds! What can I get you today?" They twitched.

"WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!" They erupted with embarrassment.

The waiter cowered. "O-ok… what'll you have, guests?"

"Mint tea." Hotaru.

"Blueberry Tea, please." This was Ruka.

"A-anything to e-eat?"

"White cake with chocolate filling."

"Fruit cake."

"It'll be r-right up!" The dude ran away as fast as he could. Those kids were harsh!

Hotaru sighed and stared at her hands. They were clasped together: not very interesting. Yet there she sat, gazing at them as if they were the cure to world hunger. But she hadn't solved that yet, which is what made it very weird.

Ruka was hardly any better. He was drawing a string across the table and back for a random stray cat to chase. Even the cat knew something was up._What a strange atmosphere,_ she thought.

That string hypnotized Hotaru. Her eyes followed it's every movement. Eventually, it moved up to the finger, then the hand, the arm, shoulder, neck, and finally landing on the beautiful face. His eyes met hers. She flushed (OOC, right?) and turned away. He looked… disappointed? No, Hotaru refused to believe that! There was no chance! He couldn't… like her! No way!

She was the brilliant inventor Hotaru Imai! He was- he was a bunny-loving idiot! They didn't match up! 'Inventor + model love.'

No, wait! She didn't mean that! What she meant was, 'inventor + model …love. Nuh uh! A simple miscalculation! Yeah, that's it! There was no way that she could **ever** love that Ruka Nogi!

But she did.

She would never tell you. If you found out, she'd give your body to science. And there's **NO CHANCE** that she would ever tell **HIM**! She couldn't. She just… wasn't strong enough. She feared rejection. Because if someone as magnificent as he had a choice, she probably wouldn't even be a contestant.

She sighed again. Being a teenager sucked.

He watched her as she stirred her tea. He thought she looked beautiful in the glow of the lamps. He saw her as a smart, independent woman who believed in herself and her thoughts.

But smart, independent women who believed in themselves and their thoughts would never fall for a guy like him. Yes, he got straight A's. Yes, he had a high IQ. Yes, pretty much every girl he had ever come in contact with fell in love with him. But she never would.

That hurt Ruka. It made his heart throb painfully. At first, he never knew why it always hurt whenever he saw guys around her. They'd known each other since they were BORN practically! All those years, his heart would twang when they were apart. He never knew why. But now he did.

He loved her. He'd always loved her. He may have only realized recently, but the feelings had been there forever. He didn't know how she felt, but he thought he did. He hated the thoughts that poured into his mind.

They spoke evil words, words that plunged him into depression. He hated this. He hated not knowing. But what could he do? It's not like they could confess in that busy teashop! Plus, they had to meet Natsume and Mikan in 15 minutes. They had to head out soon. They sighed in unison.

Ruka giggled and Hotaru cracked a tiny smile. "Well-" Ruka began. Hotaru interrupted.

"We should go get them for dinner."

Ruka nodded and got the check. They split it, because it would be sexist for Ruka to pay all of it. So, they paid and set out for the meeting place: Central Town bus stop.

They got there with 5 minutes left on the clock. A few minutes later, they heard loud laughter. It grew and grew, revealing Mikan and Natsume, side by side now.

"Oi, morons!" Hotaru called. Her shout brought the couple back to life. They hurried over. Mikan still had a big smile plastered on her face. Natsume opted for a more serious look. He had a smirk on his face, which hid the small smile that wouldn't fade away.

"Hi Hotaru-cha- I mean, Hotaru! Hi Ruka-pyon!"

"Hey, Sakura-san."

"Hello Idiot. Hyuuga." Natsume nodded. Mikan waved wildly.

"So what did you guys do? Have fun taking pictures?" Mikan asked.

"Fine." "Fine."

"Huh? Well, do you wanna hear what **we** did?"

Natsume grimaced and Ruka grinned. "Sure. Anything _interesting_ happen?" His use of the word interesting made it obvious. He wanted to know if Natsume made a move.

"Yeah! It was funny! Natsume and me were walking past this prank store! There were tons of **whoopee cushions**. And he tripped, so-"

Mikan blabbered on and on. Hotaru stared at Ruka and tried to scoop him out of her head.

'Why do I have these feelings?' they thought at the same time, gazing at each other in silence.

**Chapter 8! Whoo! Review?**

**I love Natsume and Mikan's friendship and how they would probably never be like that… But that's what makes it fun! : )**


	9. A Funny Fun Day!

**Thanks to these great dudes and dudettes!=**

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**Thank you very VERY much! You guys really made me feel better!**

**-Due to popular demand, this author is proud to present Mikan and Natsume's 'Funny Fun Day!'**

**We shall continue as Natsume and Mikan split up from Hotaru and Ruka!-**

**Disclaimer: ****NO! Go away! Stinking government peoples! so worried about stinking plagiarism... Yeesh!**

**Chapter 9**

**A Funny Fun Day!**

_Previously:_

_He was about to say something when Mikan bounced atop him._

"_Hi, Natsume!" Mikan waved down._

"_Um, hi?"_

"_Let's go! Let's go! I wanna explore!" She looked so excited. And he felt bad because now they only had about an hour before dinner._

"_Yes. Where do you want to go, little girl?"_

"_Um… I don't know! Let's just walk around and browse, ok?"_

"_Sure, fine by me." They said goodbye to Hotaru and Ruka and set off._

**ONWARD!**

Mikan wrapped her arm around her stomach and groaned. Lifting her free arm, she poked Natsume's cheek. He looked up, miffed.

"What was that for, moron?"

"Natsume! I'm hungry! Wah!" She bawled, burying her face into his shoulder. He sighed and changed his direction.

"I don't know how I put up with you sometimes. We're having dinner in an hour!"

"But I'm hungry **now**! C'mon, I only need a snack!"

"Fine. We're here." He swung her off his shoulders. She yelped as the ground drew closer, but never fear! Natsume is here! He swept her up into his arms and planted her gently back on her feet.

Mikan peeked up from behind her hands and stared in wonder at the spectacle in front on her. "What…is that?"

Before the twosome stood a grand stall. From afar, it looked completely ordinary, but the smell! The smell was to die for! Mikan was drawn up into the air by her nose. Breathing deeply, she flew to the counter. A pimply-faced teenager behind it stared in amazement at the beauty before him.

The goddess smiled at him and asked, "Excuse me, what do you sell here? Something sure smells good!"

The cashier gulped and hearts sprang to his eyes. He stared and stared, not noticing the raven-haired boy that stood with this princess. "H-Howalon, m-miss."

Mikan's eyes shone and she grabbed the boy's hand and held it between her own. "May I **PLEASE** buy some?"

Something in Natsume snapped. He pushed Mikan behind him, put down some money, and grabbed a BIG box. Glaring at the boy, he flung Mikan over his shoulder and strode away.

"NATSUME!" Mikan shrieked. "Put me down!"

He ignored her and kept walking. She beat against his back as hard as she could. He didn't even flinch. Her hardest was soft.

After a few minutes, she got tired out. She thumped down onto his back and sighed. "I hate you."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do poopy head!"

"No."

"Uh huh, stinker!"

"Nope."

"Urgh! YES I DO YOU MONKEY-EATER!"

"So let me get this straight," he said. "You hate me because I gave you the biggest box of Howalon EVER, I'm a….. 'poopy head', 'stinker', and a 'monkey-eater'. Correct?"

"Yes, that's right." She nodded, satisfied.

"God, you're mental."

Mikan's eyes glowed. Natsume winced, he knew pain was coming. He was in for it now. She reached into her pocket slowly… menacingly…

And pulled out a… rubber ducky? Well, alright. And she squeaked that thing like that was no tomorrow. The annoying sound penetrated his eardrums and he clutched his head in pain.

Oddly, the squeaking served to revive Mikan. With every squeeze she made, she clamed down a little. A few million squeezes later, and she'd probably be good as new! It was like one of those stress-relieving balls! Those things rock!

But anyway, moving on! Natsume didn't know how much more he could take. He staggered and Mikan fell to the lush green grass underneath.

The undying noise died down! Oh how Natsume would have cheered. If only he hadn't been rolling around the yard, holding his head and moaning.

Mikan started to feel guilty and so she crawled over to him. She leaned against his back. "Um, Natsume?"

He growled. I mean, he _literally _**growled**. She swallowed hard and forced a laugh."Uh, are you okay now? I'm sorry my rubber ducky got you so upset… Do you forgive me?"

"Yeah." He stood up and smoothed back his hair. "Come on, I want a new manga. How long do we have?"

"About half an hour." She watched helplessly as he winced occasionally.

"Great. Let's go." Natsume jumped as an ice cream truck drove by, playing its annoyingly happy, perky music. He walked as quickly as he could, anything to get away from the many sounds he could hear. They were EVERYWHERE!

He began to jog, with Mikan barely able to keep up. He was just about to relax when she suddenly shouted, "Natsume, look out!"

He turned back to ask what the heck she was talking about and tripped. He went sprawling!

Sprawling right into a mound of whoopie cushions. Of course, he'd just discovered he had a phobia of sudden high-pitched noises, so… Yeah. He freaked out.

Natsume jumped and jumped. And the more he jumped, the more noise, the more he went crazy. Oh, he calmed down eventually. By that time, Mikan was pretty much exploding from laughter.

He stood up from among the cushions and called out, "How'd this even happen?"

She answered, "I think a prank store truck blew up! Are you okay?" She ducked her head and laughed til she couldn't breathe.

"Sure, I'm fine," he said, calmly. "But you aren't."

"Eh?" That was all she could say before he had swept her into the sea of whoopie cushions.

The cushions farted and farted as she swam to the top. She turned to him and grinned. He returned it with an adorable lopsided smile.

While she was still being dazzled by that, he threw a pillow straight at her head. Plop! Right in the kisser! Mikan blushed scarlet at the noise it emitted and giggled. Natsume raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.

"Oh, Natsume!" She called. He turned up right next to her. "Would you be a dear and hold this box for me, "she asked sweetly. She handed him a heavy yellow box.

Curiosity got the better of him and he threw open the box. Bang! A whoopie cushion sailed right into his face.

That **was** a good one, he had to admit it. _Darn. That was a better scheme than mine._

"Hey, Natsume!" Mikan called in a sing-song voice. He groaned inwardly. "Did you **like** my plan?"

"I thought it was…. well executed..."

"So, I won this battle, right?"

"Well… yes… I guess."

"Then say it!"

"No, not again!"

"No one else will hear! Please?" This time, she employed the use of the puppy dog eyes she had patented. Natsume sighed in defeat.

"Fine." Thus he got down on his knees and bowed before her, igniting some farting (**DUE TO THE WHOOPIE CUSHIONS! THUS IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR DEAR NATSUME ACTUALLY CUTTING THE CHEESE!**). "I bow down before thee, o' great Queen of Battle. I am but a humble servant in your most honorable court. I concede all titles of Best Whoopie Cushioner to my queen, Mikan Sakura. Long live the queen." Here he mumbled, _"Until the rightful king takes over."_

"Yay! I win!" Mikan's watch beeped and she stared at it in horror. "Oh no!"

"What?"

"We only have 5 minutes to meet Hotaru-chan and Ruka-pyon! Oh no, oh no, oh no!"

"Okay, let's head out! We can still make it."

And off they went! Our two little best buddies! So sweet!

Natsume never got his manga.

Mikan never got her Howalon.

But strangely, neither cared.

**Hfkjlfghfdkjghsgjhfk. I must have been so hyper when I wrote this… Review?**


	10. Secret Santa

**Chapter 10**

**Secret Santa!**

**Disclaimer: Must I do this EVERYTIME? Yeesh! Fine: I do NOT own Gakuen Alice or Natsume (unfortunately).**

**Thanks for Reviewing:**

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You deserve a comment, Mr/Miss badinfluence! Why am I an idiot? You never responded when I asked you! Please explain! PLEASE!

**-crimsoneyes44**

It was early morning, a few weeks before Christmas, and all through the grounds, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. 'Cause he's busy cuddling with Ruka! It was December 10, and Mikan was terribly excited. Today was the day that they would pick their Secret Santas! She'd been looking forward to this since… well forever!

At her old school, they never had these kinds of festivities. There wasn't enough money in the whole town, so no one could afford to be a Santa. But here, in the Great Alice Academy, there was plenty and with tons left over!

Mikan was lying down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Because it was so early- the sun was JUST coming up- she got a very good view. She sighed in contentment and yawned. She really had tried to sleep! But she was just too darn excited!

She turned her head slightly and looked at the clock. 5:34 AM. _Hm,_ she thought, _Mommy was working late last night… So I should probably leave her alone…_ She bounced up into a sitting position on her bed, tingling with delight at her idea. _I know! I should call Natsume! He can come with me to look at the list!_

Humming, she bounded out of bed and threw on her clothes. She padded to the kitchen to get her shoes, then tip-toed out of the apartment so as not to wake her mother. Once clear, she ran as fast as she could and reached Natsume's room. She pounded on the door, jumping with impatience when he didn't come right away.

Mikan stood out there for three minutes, tapping her foot quickly. Finally she couldn't take it any more. She threw herself at the door and fell inside the room. An amused Natsume loomed in front of her. She pouted while he smirked. She jumped up, using his knees to pull herself up, and glared up at her.

"Why. Didn't. You. Answer. The. STINKING. Door. HYUUGA?" she shrieked.

He covered her mouth and spoke quietly, "Okay, little girl. One, its 5:30, I was asleep." She flushed a deep red. "Two, I'm not even dressed yet." She looked up, surprised. He responded by looking down. She followed his gaze and gasped. He wasn't naked, but he WAS only wearing a pair of black boxers.

She blushed and started flailing her arms, spouting apologies. He laughed and shushed her, putting his finger in front of her lips. "Its fine, Giraffes. Think of it like this," he continued, blatantly ignoring her rising anger, "now we both know each others' underwear. Fair is fair, after all. Ow." She had hit him with an old lady purse, filled to the brim with used tissues and hard candy. "Where did you even get that?" He demanded. She merely swung it around her hand, smiling a smug grin.

"You are such a baby. What do you even want?" She cocked her head to the side in confusion. Natsume sighed; she was hopeless. "Why," he started, enunciating every word perfectly, "did you come here?"

"Silly! I came because I'm an Alice! Yeesh!" He slapped his forehead, rolled his eyes, and tried again.

"Why did you come here TO MY ROOM at FIVE-THIRTY IN THE MORNING?"

"OH! C'mon, get dressed! We have to go find our Secret Santas!" He rolled his eyes. "You know, if you keep doing that, Mom says they're gonna get stuck!"

"Get out." He ordered, her eyes filled with tears. "Idiot, I have to get dressed." Mikan's eyes popped open and she raced outside. Natsume shook his head and proceeded to his dresser. He donned his uniform and strutted outside.

"LET'S GO, LET'S GO, LET'S GO!" Mikan shouted. And off they ran to find Mr. Narumi

"Mr. Narumi!" "Naru." The blonde man looked up from his clipboard and smiled warmly at the pair.

"Mikan-chan, Natsu-kun, how may I help you?" he asked politely. But Mikan had no patience for manners right now.

"We need to know, teacher! We NEED to know! TELL US!" She felt a poke in her side. She glanced up and looked at Natsume.

He mouthed, 'Say please.' Naru waited, he was a man of low tolerance for hooligans.

"Um…" Mikan whispered, "Please, Mr. Narumi? May we please know our Secret Santas?" She bowed her head respectfully.

"Well…" Narumi began. "If I do, you can't tell anyone- not even each other - who you got! 'Kay?" Mikan nodded enthusiastically while Natsume just 'hn'ed. Narumi smiled and leaned to Mikan and whispered in her ear. Natsume growled when Naru tried to do the same with him. So instead, he wrote it down on a slip of paper and passed it to the angry boy. Sighing, he turned and skipped down the hall.

He pouted, saying, "Darnskis! I weally wanted to hug Natsu-kins! Hmph!"

Back at the tree, Mikan chirped happily, "Oooh! Yay! Natsume, Natsume! Guess who I got, c'mon! Guess now!"

"Mikan, remember your manners," Natsume scolded lightly. Mikan hung her head and repeated herself.

"Sorry sir. Please guess?"

"Better, but we're not supposed to tell, remember?" Natsume shook his head in mock shame. As in, 'ah, I thought you knew better than that… I have failed.' This was a game they routinely played. But it wasn't always Mikan who played the fool. It's hard to believe, but Natsume sometimes acted like a complete dunce, dunderhead, idiot, moron, whatever else.

"Fine!' Mikan harrumphed, running off to see her beloved Hotaru. He chuckled as he watched her dart and scurry. 'Silly little girl,' he thought, sitting down to read his manga. He leaned his back against the Sakura tree and looked up into the endless sky. 'Yeah…silly…'


	11. Surprising Santas

**I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAACK! Yeah, I know it's been way too long for this story. I'm so sorry! But I put up two new oneshots... so am I forgiven? Please do! I made it long (as long as I could. It's 2AM again, and I couldn't make it any longer. But I'm going to upload it at a more reasonable hour!) and wonderful! It's April, and so I can FINALLY be done with the Christmas theme! Yay!**

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**Disclaimer:**** ... Leave me alone already! Yeesh! D: **

**Surprising Santas**

"Heh, heh, heh!" A voice chuckled in the dark. "This is the perfect opportunity! I WILL win Natsume's heart!" They twirled the little slip of paper around their fingers and stared at Natsume's through his room's window. The mysterious person sighed dreamily; they really thought they were in love! They were absolutely sure of it!

They watched as Natsume turned to answer his phone, talked a little, then dashed out his door. There was no doubt in the obsessed fan's mind that he was going to meet his beloved 'best friend'! The quotes were fully intentional, the fan thought there was a lot more going on between the two teenagers than they wanted to admit.

The fan smirked and looked down at the slip of paper again. _'Natsume Hyuuga… you WILL be mine… Whether you want to be, or not.'_

"Oh thanks again, Natsume!"

"Hn," the raven-haired boy grunted, shoving his hands into his pockets. The girl he was with pouted, her lower lip protruding greatly over the bottom. She folded her arms against her stomach and glared at her best friend.

"C'mon! You said you were going to be nice and really help me get a good present for the Secret Santa project!" Mikan poked his shoulder. He squirmed away, angering the young girl. "Let's go! You've GOTTA help me! I have no clue what to get!"

"You," he muttered, "have no clue about _anything_." He thought she couldn't hear.

He was wrong.

Mikan stomped hard on his foot and kneed him… well, let's just say: it wasn't a comfortable place. "WHAT THE HECK? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" She giggled and ran into the nearest store. His eyes narrowed as he limped into the candy store after her. He saw her standing before the crane game the owner put in to get more money.

She was staring at some stuffed animal, he noted before poking her head. She turned to him and smiled a huge smile. "Lookit Natsume! Look at that cute little kitty in there! I wish I had it! It's adorable!" Natsume pushed her softly away, put in 50 cents and started the game. 30 seconds on the clock, will he make it?

He jerked the controller and made a grab for the kitty. He caught something and quickly dragged it to the box. "YOU'RE A WINNER!" rang the machine. Natsume reached in proudly and drew out a… platypus. He presented it to Mikan, head down in shame. "It's okay Natsume-kun! This platypus is just as—if not cuter than—the kitty!" She hugged it happily, treasuring the gift from her friend. But he was depressed now.

She got an idea and ran to the toy shop next door. Natsume still stood before the crane, waiting. She rushed back in, holding something behind her back. She brought it out now and slammed it on his head. It was a pair of kitty ears.

"There!" she said giggling. "Now I've got a kitty! Happy?" He raised his eyebrows.

"What? No tail?" He asked rhetorically.

"I was hoping you'd say that!" And she brought of a long, matching tail. "Turn around," she ordered briskly.

"You wish!" He quipped, running out the door. Mikan raced after him, stopping only to grab a handful of snow.

"Oh, Nat!" she sang, calling out his least favorite nickname. He turned instantly, one eye twitching. A great big ball of snow plowed into his face. "Mikan…" he called dangerously. She gulped and ran.

"Natsume!" She yelled above the wind. "I don't have time for this! I don't know about you, but _I'm_ going to be getting my presents _today_! Gosh!" She scampered into the toy store again and came out 2 seconds later, carrying a big bag.

"What's in there?" He asked, jogging up next to her.

Mikan put a finger to her lips, "I'm Santa! I have to be secretive, Natsume!" He rolled his eyes and they strolled out of Central Town. As they boarded the bus, she realized something. "Hey Natsume! You never got any gifts! Should we go back?" He shook his head.

"I already got something," he said, putting her finger back to her lips. "It's a secret, remember?" She smiled and nodded furiously. Then she yawned and fell asleep, leaning her head on his shoulder.

He looked down at her and blushed a little blush. He swallowed hard, set his mouth, and looked ahead.

Yawning deeply, Mikan sat up in her bed and stretched briefly. Recognizing her surroundings, she said aloud, "How'd I get here? Where am I anyway?" This wasn't her dorm room. Hers was bright and orange and happy! But this room was dark and mysterious. But that was probably because it was night and she didn't know where she was.

She knew she was on a bed and so felt around next to her for a lamp. She reached out but found nothing. Her brow furrowed and she felt around on the floor next. Maybe it had gotten knocked over in the middle of the night. Her fingers swept around, finally seizing a flashlight. She gasped in triumph.

Turning it on, she surveyed the room but saw no one. There was a door, so she went through into a dark room. With her trusty flashlight, Mikan swept the floor in front of her, wary of any potential weapons. To her luck, there was a badminton racket to her left. She grabbed it and made her way through the room. Against the wall was a long couch… _with a person on it!_

Mikan clutched her racket tighter in her sweating hands and jumped on the couch. She screamed her battle cry, "Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

The person opened his eyes wide and shouted, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

That voice… she recognized it! It was… "Natsume?"

He glared up at her. "Just a few things, you idiot. One, get OFF ME!" She clambered up. "Two, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?"

"IwokeupanditwassodarkIdidn'!"

(**Translation- 'I woke up and it was so dark. I didn't know where I was. Then I heard something out here so I grabbed the racket and came to beat you up but then it was YOU! So here I am!')**

Natsume pursed his lips and looked up at the shamed girl. Her head hung down and her hands were clasped together tightly. He smiled and reached up to take her hands. She jumped when she felt the warmth suddenly on her hands. He pulled her down to his level and hugged her head to his chest. Her heart thumped painfully hard and fast. She had no idea what he was going to do. All of a sudden, his hand dug into her head. He was giving her a noogie?

"Aah! Natsume quit it!" She squirmed around trying to pull away.

"Why? Does it hurt?"

"Well…no," she admitted. "But it's so darn annoying!"

"That's not a reason!" But he let her go and she slumped to the floor. "Hey? Oi, little girl! You okay?" She didn't move. "Oi! Oi! Mikan? MIKAN?"

She jumped up excitably, "You said my name!" She ran to the window and, throwing it open, shouted into the nighttime air, "HEY EVERYBODY! NATSUME HYUUGA JUST SAID MY NAME! IT'S A MIRACLE!"

A pair of hands grabbed her collar and yanked her back. It was Natsume, looking steamed. "Natsume-kun? Why am I here anyway?"

"You fell asleep and your door was locked. I didn't know where you kept your key, so I brought you to my place."

"So that's where this is... Hm… I _had _been wondering…"

"You're so stupid," he muttered, raking a hand through his messy raven hair.

She pouted, and sniffed dramatically. As she wiped away an imaginary tear, Natsume shook his head wearily. "Oh quit it. I know you're faking."

"How? I was so good!"

"Not really. Sorry to tell you Idiot, but you're an awful actress." Mikan crouched low, ready to attack. "So, what'd you get me?"

"What do you mean?"

"For Christmas? You can't be telling me that you didn't get your **best friend** anything for the holiday of giving?"

She gulped and twiddled her fingers. "I never said that! It's just a secret that's all!"

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Then am I your Secret Santa partner?"

"I- I CAN'T TELL YOU!" She ran into his bedroom, locking the door. He laughed and tapped the door. "I'm not coming out! If I come out, then I'll tell you who my Secret Santa partner is, and I can't do that!"

"Relax little girl. I was just kidding." The scuffle of little feet echoed from the door. Mikan peeked out.

"Swear?"

"I swear."

"You shouldn't. It isn't polite."

He blinked. "You don't want me to—oh. Yeah, you're so funny."

"Really? I always thought so! But you and Hotaru are always telling me I'm not! Ruka-pyon keeps telling me I am. But I have a theory about that. Y'see, in my opinion, -pyons HAVE to be nice! If they're not, the friends tattle to their moms. Not that I would ever tattle on him! But then again, he doesn't DO anything! Gosh, you'd think I'd have more to suppress, seeing as he's 17! But NO! He's such a goody-two-shoes! Am I one too? I hope not! No one likes an annoying bother! Hey, are you sleeping? WAKE UP SLEEPY-HEAD!"

Natsume sighed and pressed a nerve on her neck. She crumpled, falling to the floor. But don't worry, he caught her. Placing her back on the bed gently, he sighed. Smoothing a stray hair from her cheek, and bent down, kissing her forehead lightly.

He left the room quickly, battling with his conscience.

_What are you thinking?_

**Nothing.**

_Oh really? Stop kidding yourself Natsume._

**I have no idea what you're talking about.**

_I think you do._

Natsume laid back down on the couch, drawing up the blanket to cover himself. Inwardly, the battle continued. **Okay, whatever. I'm tired after having to deal with that idiot. Can I sleep now?**

_You? You want to sleep? Ha-ha! That's funny. Y'see, I have a funny feeling that you're going to be awake for quite some time._

**Oh really?**

_Yes._

**I'll burn you.**

_You can't burn yourself, genius._

**Shut it. And leave me alone!**

_Hey, didn't she look so cute? Sleeping there?_

…**Well, I… DON'T TRY TO TRICK ME!**

_Darn, I was so close that time!_

**Just go away!**

_Nope! Colon, capital d! (:D)_

**What is that?**

_It's a smiley face. I don't have my own face, so I have to say it._

**Whatever. Go away.**

_C'mon, Natsu-chan!_

**Don't call me that!**

This went on and on for the rest of the night. Around 7:30 AM, Natsume finally fell asleep. He slept long into the day, with no interference from Mikan, who also slept in. But what they didn't remember was that, even though it wasn't a school day, they only had one more day to get presents for their Secret Santas!

At 3:45PM, Mikan finally woke up. She stretched out, smacking her lips as she rose from the bed. She yawned, looking at her watch as she walked through the door. "OH MY GOD!" she screamed. "NATSUME! NATSUME, WAKE UP!" She jumped on him, shaking his shoulders. His eyes squinted in the light, so he couldn't tell it was her. Well, not by sight. But her voice was very memorable when she was yelling.

"What do you want, little girl?" he growled, rubbing his eyes. She looked to the clock hanging on the wall, his eyes followed. "Oh no," he whispered. "TIME TO GO LITTLE GIRL!" He picked her up, settling her on his shoulders. And off they ran to catch the Central Town bus.

"Oh wait!" Mikan cried, bringing them to a stop. He looked up at her quickly. "I have to call my mom! She doesn't know where I am!" He passed up his cell phone and she smiled gratefully. Dialing, "Oooh, I'm gonna get it!"

"Hi, Mom! …Yes, I know what time it is… I'm sorry! I stayed over at Natsume's! …Yes all night… Hm? All right, hold on." She handed down the phone, "She wants to talk to you," Mikan said in a frightening tone. Natsume gulped and gave Mikan back to phone, she pushed it into his hands, he pushed it back, and she put it to his ear.

"Oh hello, Mrs. Sakura! Nice to hear from you… Yes I know we should have called… No! I would never… Mrs. Sakura… Fine, Yuka… I'm sorry… I know… I know… Yeah… Uh-huh… We're just… Yes, getting presents… Okay… Uh-huh… Right… Bye Yuka." He hung up. "So, I'm supposed to call her Yuka now, she thought we did something… inappropriate, and I have to have you home by 6:30."

"Well," Mikan said," We're going to have to hurry a little, aren't we?" He nodded and off they went. They got through all their shopping and now were heading for home.

The next day in class, everyone was abuzz with happiness. And why wouldn't they be? They were getting free presents! There was jumping and screaming and laughing all around. Even Natsume was in the spirit! He let Mikan put a wreath on his head.

"Hello my darlings!" Narumi sang, dancing into the room.

"Good morning, Narumi-sensei," the class intoned, immediately respectful and quiet.

"Are you ready? Let's begin with the present giving!" Like a king on his throne, he leaned back in his seat, legs daintily crossed at the ankles. One by one, alphabetically, he read the list of students, and they gave their gifts. Here came Natsume's. "Natsume Hyuuga!" He stood up and walked up to…

Permy's desk? Yes, it was Sumire Shouda who he had gotten for his Secret Santa. She squealed in delight as she unwrapped the newspaper wrap. That squeal of joy quickly changed into disgust. She flung away the plastic vomit, almost throwing up herself. "Natsume, how could you? I thought you loved me!"

"Ew. No." And he sat back down.

"Nat, how could you? Ugh, I thought you were a changed man!" He tsked and went on through the list. Let's skip ahead to Mikan, okay? "Mikan!"

She got up and walked to the front of the room. "Mr. Narumi, merry Christmas!" He grinned at accepted her gift. As she went back to her seat, he cooed over the tea set she'd given him.

"Thank you, Mikan! I love it!" He blew her a kiss and continued through the list, "Saruwatari Tsubaki!"

A smiling brunette stood up from the front. In her arms, she clutched a Natsume Hyuuga scrapbook and a red wrapping paper-wrapped present. Nervously, she walked up to Natsume and Mikan's desk. She passed it to Natsume and waited, still smiling shyly. He unwrapped it to find a 250 rabbit gift certificate to his favorite manga store and the newest volume of his favorite manga.

She grinned at the surprised look on his face. No one, except Mikan, had known what his favorite manga was! But she was his greatest fan, so of course she knew! She also knew how to get into Mikan's locker, to grab her gift for Natsume. She bit her lip and walked over to stand beside him. As he turned to look, she grabbed him and pulled him into hug. "Hi, I'm Tsubaki! Will you go out with me?"

Mikan's eyes grew huge and tear-filled. She ran out of the room, rubbing her eyes. Natsume pushed Tsubaki away and ran after her. She was right outside the door. "I was hoping you'd come after me," she whispered. She hugged him and pressed a small gift into his chest. He leaned back and ripped it open.

It was a small album of pictures of the two of them, from the time they first met! "Thanks Mikan. I love it," he said, meaning every word.

"It," she began, "wasn't going to be that. I got you a gift certificate and that same manga, but then they disappeared from my locker! So, I put this together! I hope its okay, I saw how much you liked Saruwatari's gift."

"That girl… she must've taken them! How else would she have known what to get!" He seethed, "Oh, I'll kill her…" He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to see Mikan staring back up at him.

"Don't do that! I'm sure she didn't mean any harm. Besides, I thought you liked this present even more." She pouted cutely. He sighed and gave her a hug.

"It's great. Thank you." Then he placed his own her head. She flung her head about, trying to see it. But of course, doing that made it fly across the hall. She ran after it sheepishly and returned to struggle with the wrapping paper. She kept it up for like 10 minutes. Until finally, he grabbed it out of her hands and did it himself. He silently put the box in her hands again, and waited for her to open it. When she did, she found a Make-Your-Own-Howalon kit, courtesy of Hotaru. She clapped her hands together in glee and jumped around.

"! I love it so much!" She kissed his cheek and hugged the box.

"It's not as sweet and heart-felt as yours, though." He shrugged. "Yours had much more thought put into it. I saw it and just knew that it was for you."

"It's great! Don't put yourself down, it's perfect."

"Good."

And off they went to lunch—don't worry, the bell had rung during Mikan's ''s' - Where Mikan experimented with her new howalon kit. In fact, that's all she ate for a while, until she could get over how easy Hotaru had made it.

**La la la… Review!**


	12. Jealousy

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**Disclaimer- Not today, not yesterday, not EVER!**

**Jealousy**

Mikan stretched her arms high over her head, bringing her hands together as though doing yoga. "Ugh, school is lasting _forever_ today!" she complained to Hotaru.

"Deal with it. We've only got like two weeks left," she sniffed disdainfully. Hotaru didn't care about school. That's not to say that she did badly, quite the opposite, really. She had one of the highest GPAs the school had ever seen. But she was just biding her time until she could go to college and major in business. To her, high school was nothing. The only way she was affected by the drama was that she took pictures of it to sell for a nice profit.

Mikan groaned. "I don't wanna study AGAIN tonight! Remind me again why I have to study a month before finals?"

"Because you're too stupid to know anything. Do you _want _to fail?" She paused. "I didn't think so. Get back to work."

"No!" Mikan whined, "Bring me home! I wanna get some more songs for my iPod!"

"No. I'm going to the library. I need some info for an experiment I'm working on." Mikan's interest was peaked.

"What is it? What is it?" she begged, tugging on Hotaru's sleeve. Suddenly, she was pulled away, left to dangle in thin air. "Eh, eh, EH?"

"Time to go little girl," Natsume said, looking at the girl in his arms. "Imai," he nodded.

"Hyuuga," Hotaru acknowledged. With a wave of her hand, they were dismissed. Natsume stepped carefully through the growing crowds, protecting the girl in his arms. Slowly but surely, he made their way to a bench, placed amongst the beautiful flowers of the small park. In his arms, the girl huffed and puffed, but seeing as there were no houses nearby, she blew nothing down.

As soon as he set down her down next to him, she erupted. "What is your problem?" she bellowed, pummeling his arm at her strongest. He chuckled quietly, making her stop in her tracks. "And what," she asked dangerously," pray tell, is so amusing?"

"I'm going to sign you up for some fighting lessons. That was pathetic, you idiot," he said, shaking his head. "What are you going to do without me?"

"Die? Don't worry about it Natsume! Either you or Mamoru will protect me always!" Her eyes sparkled, hands clasped tightly together.

Natsume's eye twitched, "Mamoru? Who the heck is that?" He didn't like his best friend associating with other guys.

"My protector! He's sworn an oath to protect me always!"

"His name is Mamoru, and he protects you? That's too weird." (**AU: In case you don't know, Mamoru is a Japanese boys' name meaning 'the protector'.)**"In any case, I don't like him. Stay away from that… _Mamoru_ jerk." He spat the name and turned away from her, refusing to show her the anger that was evident in his face.

"Eh? No way! Nat, **I **_**love**_** him!**"

He froze. "What," he snarled, "did you just say?" The wind whipped around them, but they took no notice. Natsume was furious, that much Mikan could see. But she had no idea why. In her view, it made no sense. He had been nice and carried her, though she wasn't supposed to like it, and had had a nice talk. And then he went crazy. She was so confused.

"I said that I love Mamoru. Natsume, are you alright? Your face is really red…" she reached up to brush the hair out of his eyes, but he pulled out of her reach. The same hair she'd tried to remove hung lower as he kept his face low. The wind blew harder, and he stood up, slowly pulling away from her grip. Her heart ached as she watched him walk away from her.

"Natsume," she called, feeling the tears start to build up. She just didn't understand. Wind made her hair rush in front of her eyes. It tangled up, blinding her. By the time she had freed herself, he was gone.

As soon as Mikan arrived at her dorm, she ran to her computer and logged onto her IM account.

_**Natsume's_Best_Fwiend has logged on.**_

_**Mikan_Is_An_Idiot has logged off.**_

'_Oh, he changed his username…' _she thought, a pang of sadness hitting her. It had used to be "Mikan's_Best_Fwiend' which, of course, she had chosen for him. "Well fine!" she snapped, glaring at the computer screen. "I'll change mine too!"

**Natsume's_Best_Fwiend, are you sure you'd like to change your username? **She clicked the Yes button. **Please enter your new username below, then click 'okay'.**

It rang and a new window popped up. **Thank you, Natsume_Is_An_Idiot. Be sure to send a notice to everyone on your friends list to notify them of the change. **She clicked yes, and typed in the following note:

_Hi everyone! In case you're not aware, Natsume went crazy today. And for reasons I don't know, we are no longer friends. Well, he didn't say that exactly… but trust me, I know! Will you support me or that meanie jerk?_

_Lots and lots of love for my TRUE friends,_

_Mikan : 3_

_P.S. Yes. This is me and Natsume's first ever fight. But that doesn't matter! We are no longer friends! :( _

"I don't believe this," Hotaru stated over the phone to Ruka. They had been talking a lot more since their little excursion to Central Town.

"What, that they're actually fighting or that you don't know why?" Oh, he knew her so well.

She paused, "Both." He laughed, causing a small smile to break through on her pale face. "I just don't know, I thought my hypothesis would always be right! But then there's this fight… What's it even about?"

"No one knows! But Natsume keeps muttering about her and someone named Mamoru. I have no idea what the heck he's talking about! Should I do a little digging?" he questioned nervously.

"Yup, do your best!" They said their goodbyes and hung up.

"Hey Natsume," Ruka asked uncertainly, fidgeting with his watch, which contained the chip Hotaru had stuck on him to record the conversation.

"Hm? What is it, Ruka?"

"Um… why are you and Mikan fighting? It's so weird not to see you two together all the time."

"Why should I have to spend all my time with her? It's pretty obvious that she doesn't care about me at all, so why shouldn't I have the same privilege? You wanna know why I'm ticked off? Oh, I'll tell you why! She's in love with some jerk I don't know! His name is," his lip curled up with disgust, "_Mamoru_. I hate that stupid guy. He's obviously not in love with her and only wants ONE THING! I won't let her get into something with a man like that! But no. I don't even care anymore! And why should I? If she wants to ruin her life, I say let her!"

Ruka smiled, "Natsume…" He shook his head, his grin growing wider and wider. Finally, it got it to be too much. He burst out laughing. Natsume stared at him, confusion all over his face. Was everyone in the academy going crazy?

"What?" he grumbled.

"Are you so stupid that you have no idea why you're so mad?" Natsume stayed silent. "Come on, dude, you're supposed to be a genius. Use that giant brain of yours! _Why_ were you so mad that Mikan might have a boyfriend?"

"…I don't know," he sighed. He ran a hand through his hair and said, "It's just… She's supposed to be my best friend. That's what she's always saying. I feel… left behind, I guess."

"Is that it?" Ruka pressed, "Any other feeling? Something you don't really understand?" He could almost imagine Hotaru would be rubbing her hands together greedily at this conversation. But no, he wouldn't let her! This was for their friends!

"Yeah, I guess, I kinda wanna tear this _Mamoru_ apart." He paused. "Ruka."

"Yeah?"

"Imai's recording this." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah."

"…" He walked away.

Mikan pummeled her pillow, trying to make it more comfortable. Finally, she gave up and just pressed her face into it hard. She screamed and cried and, sitting up, hugged herself tight. "Natsume…" she whispered, drifting off into a daydream.

_"Natsume?" I called, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Natsume?" No answer, but rustling came from behind the trees to my right._

_"Mikan!" Natsume's voice answered, breaking free of the bushes. I ran to him and tackled him, taking us both down. My tears ran down my face and I made no move to stop them. He was really there! He was talking to me! I was so happy! "Mikan…" he smiled. I beamed back through my tears. He pulled us both up and wrapped his arms tenderly over my shoulders._

_"Natsume, Natsume, Natsume!" All I could do was repeat his name. It felt so good to talk to him again! He pressed his lips to my hair and I was on Cloud Nine. "I…I love you!" I murmured, not expecting him to be able to hear it. But he did._

_He immediately straightened up. I stared at him in confusion. He looked away from me, off to the school. Slowly, he removed his arms from me and backed up slowly, looking just to the left of me. "Natsume? What's wrong? Where are you going?" He said nothing, just kept walking away. A fine mist rose up and wove its way around him. It hid him from my sight._

_"No! Natsume!" I screamed, "Come back!" But he was gone. I crumpled to the ground. Just as soon as I spoke my feelings out loud, he disappeared. Figures. I sobbed, feeling numb. I rubbed furiously at my wet eyes, but gave up when the tears just kept flowing. I fell to my side, gazing before me, but able to see nothing because of the fog. It rushed up to cover where I had been. I watched it, unable to move. "Natsume…" I whispered, lapsing into silence. My voice had given out; the pain was too great…_

"NATSUME!" She screamed, coming to on her bed. Breathing heavily, she looked around the room.

_Mikan._

**Hello? Who is this?**

_I'm Natsume's conscience._

**Then why the heck are you talking to me? Never mind. I don't care. Can you go away? I'm kind of dealing with something right now.**

_Oh I already know that! You and Natsume are having a fight._

**Yeah.**

_You don't want to be though… because you're in love with him._

**Huh? What are you talking about? He's **_**just**_** my best friend! Gosh, no wonder he's so weird, having to deal with **_**you!**_

_Then what was with that little daydream?_

…

_Don't worry. I won't tell him._

**Oh thank you very much! You're so nice! **She smiled happily.

_**You**__ will._

**I will what?**

_First, make up with him. Then…_

**What, what?**

_Then, _Natsume's Conscience giggled, _you'll __**make-out**__ with him! ;D_

**WHAT?**

_Gosh, what is with you people? I have no body! I have to say what my expression is… You shouldn't point out other people's faults, you know! It's hurtful! T-T_

**Sorry. But that's not what I was talking about!**

_Oh be quiet! You love him. You wanna kiss him, so do it! You are NOT just friends! When will you realize that? Everyone around you does!_

She gulped, **They do?**

_Yup. I've got to go soon. Natsume's calling me._

**Oh wait! Do you want to meet my darling Mamoru-kun?**

_(I've heard of this guy from Natsume! Better investigate! _Natsume's Conscience thought.) _Um… suuure! Why not?_

**Cool! Hold on, I'll go get him! **She jumped off her bed and ran into the bathroom. A few seconds she returned with something fluffy in her arms.

_What is that thing?_

**It's Mamoru! My lovely, beautiful, splendiferous kitty-kat!**

_It's a… cat?_

**Yeah! What else would he be?**

_Um… I've really gotta go now. Bye Mikan-chan!_

**EH? You sure? I've got some cupcakes, if you want any!**

_No can do, sweet cheeks! _His voice started getting more and more distant; _I've got no tummy to put it in! Bye bye!_

'What a weird conscience.' "I thought they were supposed to be crickets with top hats…" Mikan mused.

_NATSUME! NATSUME! WAKE UP! _

**What do you want? **He took a sip from his bottled water.

_I've got to tell you something!_

**What is it? Tell me already you stupid conscience!**

_Mamoru is a CAT! _Natsume spat out his water, _Yeah. I know._

**Then that means… oh my god. I erupted at Mikan for no reason!**

_No, really?_

**Shut up! Where is she?**

_Her room. She sure is cryin' up a storm. Nice going, lover-boy._

Natsume didn't answer. He couldn't, he was already out the door. Rushing towards her room, he felt a hand on his shoulder. A soft voice said, "Natsume-kun…"

**What? People can't talk to other people's consciences? Pffft.**

**But oh my gosh! Look up at the top! I'd just reached 160? Now I'm at 235! I LOVE YOU ALL! Let's get even higher, eh?**


	13. Apology

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**Love you all! Kisses to everyone!**

_Previously on A Reason to Live:_

_**Then that means… oh my god. I erupted at Mikan for no reason!**_

_No, really?_

_**Shut up! Where is she?**_

_Her room. She sure is cryin' up a storm. Nice going, lover-boy._

_Natsume didn't answer. He couldn't, he was already out the door. Rushing towards her room, he felt a hand on his shoulder. A soft voice said, "Natsume-kun…"_

Natsume turned around, glaring at the person taking him from apologizing. It was Ruka, concern clear is his blue eyes. "Ruka. What's up? I've gotta go apologize to… Are you okay?" Ruka had come closer, and it was now easier for his friend to see how disheveled he was. His hair was a mess, his clothes rumpled, and it looked like he hadn't slept.

"I've just been… thinking of some stuff." He sighed and ran a few fingers through his hair, "Have you ever wondered what a girl is thinking? I mean, she seems so into you and you're really happy together but then—poof! The moments gone! You know what I mean?"

'Do I ever,' Natsume thought. "Yeah, I do and I have. But my moments aren't ruined like I'm guessing yours are. Mine are more like idiots keep coming up or the girl's too stupid to know you don't want to be more than what you are." He realized he was blabbing his entire life story to Ruka, and so he shut up.

Ruka laughed. "You want to talk more about this? When you're done groveling, I mean?"

"Definitely, as long as it stays between us. Deal?" he stuck out his hand. A twinkle appeared in Ruka's eyes as he grasped the offered hand.

"Deal." Natsume started to walk away, "And Natsume!" he called. The boy stopped, and Ruka added with a grin, "Good luck!"

Mikan sniffled as a knock sounded quietly at her door. "Who is it?" she called.

Natsume's muffled voice answered, "It's me. I want to talk to you. Let me in!"

She stood and walked tentatively to the door. Creaking it open an inch, she popped her head out and asked, "What do _you_ want?"

"Can I come in please?" He asked, noticing the tear tracks that had dried on her face. Guilt wracked his body.

"Why should I let you? You hate me anyway."

He bent down to her level and stared straight into her eyes. "Come on Mikan. You can't stay mad at me forever. I really need to talk to you. As my BEST BEST best friend, shouldn't you let me explain myself?" She bit her lip, clearly debating. With a sigh of defeat, she stepped back and let him open the door fully.

The first thing he did was swing her up into his arms and smile right into her face. As she blushed and spluttered embarrassedly, he walked over to her bed and sat down with her. "Let. Me. Go. Stupid!" she said, pushing desperately against his grip.

"No." She crossed her arms and muttered incoherently. "Okay, little girl. I think I've let you stew for long enough. Can I apologize yet?"

"Apologize?" Mikan asked with a confused expression. _The_ Natsume Hyuuga doesn't say he's sorry. He forces other people to apologize even if he's the guilty party.

"Yeah, I let my temper get to me. I know I hurt your feelings. Feel free to tell me off," he hung his head and waited. Instead, he felt a pair of arms wind themselves around his neck. His brows furrowed and he said hesitantly, "Um… you know, this is not what I had in mind. But okay…" He hugged back carefully.

"At least tell me why you erupted at me. It was just so random! And I… I…" she buried her head in his chest and cried silently.

"I got jealous, okay? Of that stupid Mamoru." He felt her mouth open and rushed to say, "And, before you tell me, yes, I know now that he's a cat. But I didn't know at the time!" He took a hand off her back and dropped his face into it. "God, I'm so stupid. I'm sorry, Mikan. Really sorry."

"I forgive you." She looked up and smiled. "After all, what's a girl to do without her best friend? I'd be lost without you silly!" Her face turned serious and she looked down at hers and Natsume's laps, fiddling her fingers. "There's something I need to talk to you about, Natsume."

"What is it?" he asked softly. Could it be that she felt the same? Was that what she was going to say? He didn't dare hope for it, but with the way she looked, he thought it was possible.

"I—"The door was flung open, and Hotaru came barging in, ruining their moment.

"Hey idiots," she greeted, raising her hand. Natsume glared at her, angry for her interrupting Mikan's maybe-confession. "What's your problem, fire-eyes?"

"You. Now get out."

She tsked, "Can't I come visit my heart-broken friend?" She glanced at their little set-up, "But I can see someone already beat me to it. What's going on here lovebirds?"

"None of your business, Ice Queen," Natsume hissed. "Get out."

"Natsume!" Mikan whispered, "Don't be mean to Hotaru! Hotaru, thank you so much for coming! You were worried about me? Kyaaaaa!" She clapped her hands together and Natsume marveled at her.

"_She looks so cute! Would it be weird if I just randomly hugged her?"_

Natsume's eyed twitched. "KOKO!"

"Eh?" Mikan asked, craning her neck to see Natsume's face. Hotaru snickered behind the cover of her hand.

"Nothing, just ignore the loser," Hotaru said, referring to Natsume with a careless wave of her hand.

"Imai, I'll burn you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She raised her camera to her face, "Can you continue with the heartfelt confessions now? It'll bring tons of money to the Imai Corporation."

Mikan flushed, "I have no idea what you're talking about Hotaru! I was just gonna say… um, that I… wish Hotaru was here! And wow! Here you are! Heh heh heh… um, bye!" And she bolted out the door, leaving Natsume clinging to air. Hotaru caught the wounded puppy-look on his face before he could cover it, and smirked evilly.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't say a word."

"I won't say anything, Hyuuga." She paused, "I just want to say that Mikan is cute. So if you don't snap her up now, there will be a lot of guys after her. Keep that in mind." She walked out, stopping only to toss something into his lap. "Note from Ruka," she explained. "He asked me to give it to you. Tell him he owes me 50 yen."

Natsume flipped open the letter and read through it quickly, walking out into the hall and entering his room.

_Natsume,_

_We have to talk about… You-Know-Who! (And yes, I mean your girl and mine!) Meet me in my room when you get this. I asked Hotaru—Sorry! I mean Imai!—to give it to you. But I had to pay her… Oh well! My room as soon as you get this! See you there!_

_-Ruka_

**What will happen next? Review! Favorites and alerts are also appreciated!**


	14. A New Love

**I know, I know. I've been gone waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. What was it this time? 4 months? I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Please stay tuned for last chapter's reviewers…**

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**Thanks guys! So many wished me a happy birthday! Now, please enjoy this chapter. My reasons for deserting you for so long are at the end! Hope you like it! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Wish I did. We gots a problem, peoples.**

_**Previously on...**_**A Reason to Live:**

_Natsume,_

_We have to talk about… You-Know-Who! (And yes, I mean your girl and mine!) Meet me in my room when you get this. I asked Hotaru—Sorry! I mean Imai!—to give it to you. But I had to pay her… Oh well! My room as soon as you get this! See you there!_

_-Ruka_

Natsume peeked around the corner of the hallway, checking if there was anyone around. Nope. He sprinted to the door, his heart racing. He stood outside for a moment to catch his breath and knocked quickly, three times. The door opened and a hand shot out, grabbed the collar of Natsume's shirt, and yanked him in.

Now inside, Natsume looked around at the spotless room, taking in the animal posters that covered almost every inch of the walls. He glanced over at Ruka, raising a single eyebrow. Ruka blushed furiously and said, scrambling for words, "I, um, well... It's like this- Oh, they're... They're.. Gifts? Yeah, gifts! That's right! From my... My... My little sister! She... um... Well..."

"Ruka," Natsume interjected. Ruka looked up, face tomato-red. "Just give it up, man."

"Well, anyway!" Ruka blustered on, trying to save face. "There was a point for this meeting, remember? Yeah, there was. The Mikan and Hotaru dilemmas, remember?"

"How could I forget? So, what are we gonna do?"

"I'm not really sure... I've never done this sort of thing before. What about you?"

"Not even once. I've loved Mikan pretty much all my life. Who else could I have confessed to? My mom?" Natsume scoffed. "Hey, have you got anything to eat? I'm starved. Mikan being mad at me wiped out my appetite for a while there."

"Uh, yeah. Lemme see..." He walked over to his mini fridge, opened it, and rummaged around. When he came back up, he was holding a paper plate filled with several slices of cold sausage and cheese pizza. He grabbed another plate and piled a few slices on top. Passing it to Natsume, he asked, "Soda?" Natsume nodded. Ruka tossed him a Coke and took a bite of his own slice.

Natsume, waiting for it to be safe, opened the Coke and took a sip. "But anyway dude, you and Imai? So simple. Give her a crapload of money and then ask her out. Not that hard, man."

Ruka laughed, "Natsume, that's bribery!"

"What's your point?"

"I don't want her to be with me just because I'm paying her to! That's not the relationship I want!"

"Man, that's the only one you'll get with that witch."

_Slam!_

Ruka threw himself at his friend, fists flying wildly. But the Bunny Boy was not strong. Natsume grabbed both his arms, twisted them behind Ruka's back, and pressed him to the floor. "Calm down. Calm down and I'll let you up. Got it?" He nodded slightly, face pressed to the floorboards. Natsume got up and sat in the armchair nearby. Ruka also stood up, but just stayed there, rubbing his face.

"Oh... Oh! Natsume, I'm so sorry! Crap! I didn't mean to- It was a reflex, I guess."

"It's fine. It's not like you actually did any damage. But you really like Imai, don't you?"

Ruka sighed. "Yes. I don't mean to. I mean, I know I have no chance, but, I just can't help it." He threw himself backward onto his bed. "What am I gonna do?" he moaned, rolling from side to side.

He was pulled up by his collar, looking straight at Natsume. "If you give up, _I_'_ll_ give up. And if I give up, I'll kill you."

Ruka gave an awkward laugh, unsure of what to say. Natsume's eyes narrowed as he threw his friend back. _He's serious..._ Ruka thought, his eyes widening with the realization. _He's really give up on the love of his life... for me._ With determination in his eyes, he stood up, back straight, and declared, "I swear to you, Natsume, I will _not give up."_

"I haven't seen Hyuuga around much lately," Hotaru commented as she and Mikan walked to their next class.

"I know, right?" Mikan replied, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes, "Ruka-pyon's never here either. I wonder what's going on..."

"Maybe they're plotting," Hotaru suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Plotting what?"

"To ask you out, obviously." She considered her words for a second and added, "Well, in Hyuuga's case that is."

Mikan laughed, "What are you talking about Hotaru? Natsume doesn't want to ask me out! Why would he? We're best friends! Silly!"

Hotaru rolled her eye. "Mikan... You're so stupid..." she mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing..."

They walked the rest of the way to the classroom in silence. As they neared the door, it swung open and a wind carrying thousands of rose petals flowed gracefully into the hall. Mikan gasped and clapped her hands in delight. Hotaru stood there, eyes narrowed, arms folded. Once the flowers had cleared away, they walked slowly into the classroom. A slow, white mist curled on the floor. Mikan was confused, but Hotaru's eyes zeroed in on a single yen, which lay on the floor. She walked up to it and reached down to grab it. Suddenly, it sprang backwards. She glared into the fog, refusing to be a part of the stupid game which appeared she was expected to play. She reached into her pocket, pulled out her horse-shoe glove and shot into the whiteness.

A low groan of pain echoed through the room. "Hotaruuuuuu!" Ruka dashed forward, a red mark on his forehead. He grabbed her shoulders and gazed down at her still, surprised face. "Why? W-" _"Why?"_ He was cut off by her voice, which rose up to intercept him.

"Why are you doing this, Nogi? I'm not stupid. I know what's going on. I just don't understand _why_ you feel you have to do this. Explain it to me."

His face gained color, "I... I love you! I don't know how else to say it- or how to explain this stupid stunt. I had to tell you. Now. I love you, Hotaru." His chest rose up and down quickly, as if he'd just run a marathon.

Her violet eyes grew large. She processed what had just happened. He shook her by the shoulders, waking her from her thoughts. She looked up, stoic face in place. "Tell me, Hotaru. Whether you love me or hate me, just tell me. If you want to run, you can. _After_ you've answered me."

She closed her eyes and breathed slowly. In and out. In and out. Ruka stared down, trying to slow his racing heart.

She rose onto the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his, a blush dusting her cheeks. His arms wound themselves around her, holding her tight against his chest. A tear fell slowly from her closed eye, the only one drop you'd ever see. A smile unfolded slowly on his face as their kiss continued, her arms now draped around his shoulders.

Back in the doorway, Mikan stood, her hands up to her eyes, wiping the tears away. A hand pressed onto her shoulder, making her look up. Natsume stood there, his arm extended. He smiled a little warm smile. She looked back up, a grin on her face and the tears gently falling down. She turned back to her friends. "Looks like Hotaru got her happy ending," she murmured to herself. She looked back at Natsume. _Will I ever have that?_ She thought, as her heart gave a twinge.

Natsume was surprised by the look of sadness in Mikan's eyes as she smiled at him. _Someday, little girl, someday __**soon**_.

**I'm finishing this thing. This story has been going on for far too long! About 2 more chapters than I am DONE WITH THIS STORY! Yay!**


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